The Green Office Manual: A Guide to Responsible Practice [2nd ed.] 1853836796, 9781853836794, 9780585395418

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Earthscan P~ ~ l i c a t i Ltd, o ~ sLondon andSt e r ~ i n ~ , ~ A

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Second edition first published in the UK and USA in 2000 by Earthscan Publications Ltd copyright 0 Wastebusters Ltd, 2000 A1 ~ i ~ hrt s

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First edition X997 A catalogue

record for this bookis available from the British Library

ISBN: 1 85383 679 6

Typesetting and page design byPCS Mapping & DTE Newcastle upon Tyne Printed and bound in the UK by Redwood Books Ltd, Trowbridge, Wiltshire Cover design by Danny Gillespie Cover photograph courtesyof Herman Miller, Inc ( ~ . h e r m a n ~ i l l e r . c o m ) For a full listof publications please contact: Earthscan ~blicationsLtd 120 Pentonville Road London, N 1 9JN, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7278 0433 Fax: +44 (0)20 7278 1 142 Email: earthinfo~earthscan.co.uk http:/~.earthscan.co.uk 22883 Quicksilver

Drive, Sterling,VA 20 166-20 12, USA

Earthscan is an editorially independent subsidiary of Kogan Page Ltd and publishes in association with WWF-UK and the International Institute for~nvironmentand Development Printed on Repeat Offset, 100 per cent recycled paper from a mill with environmental management systems standard IS0 14001 and Forest Stewardship Council(FSC) certification. Front cover finished witha biodegradable varnish

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List of Figures, Tables, Case Studies and Guest Articles Abo~t ~us~ebuste~s A c ~ n o ~ l e d g ets~ e n ~ c ~ o nand y ~Abb~eviations s

The Business Case summa^ of Benefits ett

vii X

xii xiii

1 2 9

Manual Planned Approach Assessing Current Practice

10 11 14

e

17 17 27 34 36 44 47 53 57 59 60 62 64 70

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Waste Disposal Selecting Waste ~anagement/Recy~ling Contractors Waste Reduction Recycling Paper Organic Waste Glass trending Cups Metal: Drinks Cans IT Equipment Other Office Wastes Chapter summary

Office Stationery Printers, Photocopiers and PCs Office ~urniture Paper Catering and Cleaning Printing Grounds Maintenance Chapter summary

71 71 93 98 102 109 117 122 127 131

Introduction Hazardous Waste

132 134

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Office E~uipment Fabric ~ a i n t e n a n c e Refrigerants: CFCs and HCFCs Fire protection^ Halon Energy ~ t e r n a t i v eEnergy Assessing Energy Use Reducing Energy Use Lighting Water Chapter Summary

140 143 145 148 151 154

157 162 165

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Commuting Business Pave1and Company Cars Chapter Summary 7

Introduction Promoting Indivi~ualAction Communic~tionTools Launching an Initiative Environment Team Environmental Awareness Training Running a Successful Event Good Practice Guidelines Chapter Summary

1

137

171

172 1 79 188

197

198 198

200 203 208

209 213 218 220

Introduction Steps to a ~ a n a g e m e nSystem t Chapter Summary

22 l 233 252

Introduction What and How to Report Chapter Summary

253

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cts

Introduction Key Support Organisations Contacts and Resources

277 277

279

291 293 296

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8.1 8.2 8.3

mica1 environmental effects of the office The waste hierarchy Waste stream analysis for Wastebusters Ltd: h example of a good practice office The transport hierarchy Use posters to communicate your results Stages in the implementation of IS0 14001 The improvement loop Steps to a ~ a n a g e m e n system t

2.1 2.2 3. 1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.1 1 4. l 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5

Typical environmental effects of the office Model action plan General waste disposal costs Additional waste disposal costs Total annual waste disposal costs Standard capacities of waste bins based onLandfill Tax calculations Weight of common waste products Ready-reckoner: Total waste produced Ready-reckoner:Waste stream analysis Calculating the weightof your waste per person Calculating your waste Main office waste arisings and recommended disposal routes Recycling rate Printing processes and sourcesof VOC emissions Gaseous agents and their GWP Energy costs per square metre of treated floor area Energy costs per member of staff Carbon dioxide emissions per square metreof office space Water use per person per year

2. l 3.1 3.2

6.1 7.1

13 26

30 173 205 228 233 233

15 16 30 30 30 31 31 31 32 32 32 33 46 123 148 155 156 156

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5.6 6. l 6.2 6.3 8. l 8.2 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9

1.1 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.1 1 4. 1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 viii

Water costs per person per year CO, conversion figures for fuel use CO, emissions by transport mode Example ready-reckon~rof CO, emissions from Schroders plc corporate annual travel SWOT analysis of A. Model Investment Bank A. Model UK Ltd environmental programme 2001 Comparison of A. CO Ltd current performance and industry benchmarks Benchmark waste per person from Chapter 3, Office Waste Benchmark recycling rate from Chapter 3, Office Waste Total CO, emissions from Chapter 5, Building Management Industry benchmarks for energy use Water use per person per year from Chapter 5, Building ~ a n a g e m e n t Total annual distance and CO, emissions per year from Chapter 6, Transport Environmental footprint Examples of normalised units

167 189 190 190 238 246 265 267 267 267 268 268 270 271 272

zyxwv zyxw zyxwvuts Camden Council: Street Environment Services and Best Value Wilkin and Sons Limited: Waste M~nimisation Crofton Halls: Glass Recycling and Catering Wastebusters Ltd: Waste Alert Club Network Reclign: Waste Exchange - Waste Alert Clubs Kodak Ltd: Recycling Broomleigh Housing Association: Paper Recycling British Hospitality Association: Recycling Horniman Museum and Gardens: Composting Joanna’s Restaurant:Glass Recycling and Energy Efficiency Prospects Career Services: Computer Re-use Castle Homes Limited: Furniture Re-use UMIST The ~ n v i r o n m ~ n tSupply al Chain Forum BioThin~ing International:Purchasing for Sustainability CBS Supplies: ~epartmentalPurchasing S~rclaysplc: Purchasing Strategies National Grid Company plc: Waste Management Strategy Paperback: Recycled Stationery Products S&Q: Suppliers Inveresk plc: Paper Mill ~nvironmentalPerformance Monthind Clean: Cleaning Services Crofton Halls: Catering Contractors

8 38 40 41 43 45 50 52 55 58 63 65 76 79 85 90 91 94 106 115 119 121

4.1 l 4.12 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2

7.3 7.4 7.5 8. l 8.2 9.1 9.2 9.3

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Copyprint UK Ltd: Printers 124 NHS Supplies: Assessing Supply Chain Performance 129 The Co-operative Bank: Carbon Dioxide Reductions 152 Reed Business Information: Energy Efficiency 159 Chesswood Middle School: Water Efficiency 168 Three Valleys Water - En~ronmentalStudies Centre: Water Efficiency 170 Stockley Park Transport Plan: Green Transport Plans 181 BAA: Green 'Ransport Plans 187 HM Customs & Excise: Communication Mechanisms 201 Ravens Wood School: Communication- International Environmenta~ 204 Survey (IES) Shell International Limited: Environ~entalAwareness Campaign 207 212 Unilever: Environmental Theme Week 215 Waste Alert, Camden: Running a Successful Workshop 222 Shot in the Dark: Environmental Management in an SME 244 Dudley UK Ltd: IS0 1400 1 - Implementing through Innovation 260 EM1 Group plc: Environmental Reporting 266 Schroders (London Group) : Environ~ental Reporting NWDMC, Environmental Agency: Water Use Benchmarks 269

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Barbara Morton: The Environmental Supply Chain Forum Justin Keeble: You and Your Stationery Supplier Ruth Hillary: Why Have SMEs Been So Slow nking Up EMS? Rachel Jackson: The ACCA Environmental Reporting Awards

72 97 225 255

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Wastebusters is the leading UK environmental consu~tancyspecialising in greening the office. The consultancy was establishedin 1991 by Lesley Millett in response to a market need for a practical approach to green office auditing and environmental programmes. We produce concise and jargon-free advice and informatio~ tomake good environmental practice possible for all organisations and individuals. We are best known for our work in the office; our experience also extends to publishing, utilities, hospitality, retail and the public sector. Wasteb~sters also manages Waste Alert, a network of waste minimisation clubs helping small businesses to reduce costs through improved.waste management and materials exchange. Wastebusters has worked with a wide rangeof organisations: small companies, multinational organisations, local and central government and schools. Wastebusters felt that this information could be made available on a n a t i o n ~ i d e basis in a form that would be relevant to all offices and so published The Green OfJce ~ a ~ d in~October o o ~1994. This was the first guide of its kind to offer practical advice for organisations intending to manage the environmentaleffects of their buildings and office activities. The Handbook was revised and updated in 1997 when it was first ~ublishedby Earthscan as The Green OfJce ~ a ~ u aA lGuide : to ~ e s ~ ~Practice. ~ s iThis ~ second l ~ edition of the Manual is once more the resultof substa~tialrevisions and new and updated case studies, uidelines and advice. Our business is based on strong ethical principles.We are a limited company which does not distribute profits and a registered Environment Body under the Landfill Tax Regulations. As part of our commitment to encouraging environmental improvement, we aimto minimise our own en~ronmentalimpacts. We have recently published our first environmental report detailing what we as a company are doing. For copies of the report and further guidance on greening your own operations, contact us at:

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~~s~e~usters 3rd Floor Brigh to^ ~ o u s e 9 righto on

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London} SW9 8DJl UK ~ ~ 1esley~wastebusters.co. ~ i l : uk Tel: 4-44 (0)20 7207 3434

Lesley is a sales andmarketing professional and established ~astebustersin 1991. She was awarded anMBE for services to the environment in June 1999. Her particular strengths are balancing environmental concerns with the practicalities and financial considerations of introducing sound environmentalpractice into offices. Lesley is Director of ~astebusters. Lesley works with leading organisationsinvolved in improving environmental performance and is an Advisor on the Environmental Technology Best Practice P r o g r a m ~ e(ETBPP), a governmentinitiative which aims to promote betterenvironmental performance while increasing the competitive~ess of UK industry and commerce. In this capacity, Lesley has extensive experience of helping a wide range of organisations to implement environmental initiatives which are cost effective and result in environmental improvement.This experience has covered a wide range of industry sectors including: the prison service, theme parks, museums, architect’s practice, teleco~munications, thefinancial sector, retailing and NGOs. Lesley is a recognised speaker at industry seminars. Lesley’s experience includes advising Reed Elsevier and Schroders London Croup on the development of their environmental reporting in line with current best practice. She advised the BBC and National Grid on their waste m a n a g e ~ e n t contracts to ensure the integration of environmental criteria.

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The author would like to acknowledge the helpof the following people and organisations in the preparation of this Manual, particular~y our guest authors: Rachel Jackson from ACCA (Association of Certified Chartered Accountants) for her article on Environmental Reporting and Dr Ruth Hillary from the Network for Environmental Management and Auditing UK for her article on environmental management for small businesses. Barbara Morton from the Environmental Supply Chain Forum at UMIST, Edwin Datschefski at Biothinking International, and Justin Keeble at Dudley UK Ltd for their contributions to the purchasing chapter, All Wastebusters clients and Waste Alert members who provided case study material. The Waste Alert team for their best practice case study contributions, ~articularlyChristine Bentley, Steve Dulmage and JasonLangrish. Special thanks go to Emma Rurlow and Chris Knight at Wastebusters for their hard work and commitme~t this to project; Emma particularly for her contributions and research on waste and building management and for coordinating the project, Chris for his work on environmental management and reporting and collating good practice case studies. Kogan Page and Earthscan for supporting us.

Barclays British Airports Authority British Hospitality Association Castle Homes Ltd Cheshire Business supplies/cheshire County Council Chesswood School The Co-operative Bank Crofton Halls Dudley Stationery Ltd EM1 Group plc Environment Agency HM Customs Ck Excise Horniman Museum and Gardens Inveresk plc Joanna’s Restaurant

Kodak Ltd National Grid NHS supplies Paperback Ravens wood School Reclign Reed Business Information Schroders plc (now Schroder Salomon Smith Barney) shell International Ltd Shot in the Dark stockley Park Three Valleys Water Unilever Waste Alert Club Network Wilkin and Sons Ltd

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ACCA Bi E BOD BRE BRECSU BREEAM BSEN BSI BSRIA CBI CFC CHP CIRIA CNG c02 COD COSHH DETR DTI EA ECF EEBPP ERN EIRIS EMAS EMF EMS EPA EPI ERA ETBPP FSC FTSE GDP GRI GWP HCFC HFC

Association of Certified Chartered Accountants Business in the Environment biochemical oxygen demand ~uildingResearch Establishment Building Research Energy Conservation Support Unit Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method British Standards Euro Norm British Standards Institute Building Services Research and Information Association Confederation of British Industry chloro~uorocarbon combined heat and power Construction Industry Research and Information Association compressed natural gas carbon dioxide chemical oxygen demand control of substances hazardous to health Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions Department of Trade and Industry Environment Agency elemental chlorine-free Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme energy from waste Ethical Investment Research Service Eco-Management and Audit Scheme electric magnetic field environmental management system Environmental Protection Act environmental performance indicators Environmental Reporting Awards Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme Forest Stewardship Council Financial Times Stock Exchange gross domestic product Global Reporting Initiative global warming potential hydrochloro~uorocarbon hydro~uorocarbo~

Health and Safety Executive International Chamber of Commerce Industry Council for Electron~c E~uipment Recycling International Panel on Climate Change International Standards Organisation life cycle analysis liquid petroleum gas make a corporate commitment ~echanicaland electrical materials recovery facility National Aeronautical and SpaceAgency non-fossil fuel obli~ation non-governmental o~ganisation nickel c a d ~ i u ~ NiCd nitrogen oxides NO, National Societyfor Clean Air and ~nvironmentalProtection NSCA nt N ~ D M C National Water Demand ~ a n a g e ~ eCentre optical brightening agent OBA ozone depletion potential ODP perfluorocarbon PFC Pensions and Investment Research Consultants PIRC Refrigerant Users Group RUG seasonal affective disorder SAD Scottish Environment ProtectionAgency SEPA small- and medium-sized enterprises SMEs sulphur dioxide so2 to~allychlorine free TCF triple bottom line TBL toxic release inventory TRI visual display unit VDU volatile organic compound VOC

HSE ICC ECER IPCC IS0 LCA LPG MACC M&E MRF NASA NFFO NGO

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xiv

Responsible environmentalpractice makes good businesssense andis synonymous with a well-managed organisation. Despite keen interest to develop environmental initiatives, the pressures of an organisation’s core businessoften result in a lack of time and resources necessary to research and implement environmental practice. Thereis plenty of information available telling organisations what they should be doing, but a lack of practical information on how to doit. ~astebusters,Green O ~ ~~~~~~1 ce aims to solve these problems by concise information about environmental issues and listing the pra needed to create a greeneroffice environment and cut costs at the sametime. The Manualis aimed at the person responsible for running the offic the office or facilities manager. It will assist all types of or~anisations, manufacturing company wishing to ensure the office is not ignored in its environmental p r o g r a m ~ e , t oa small organisation where there is no one ap~ointedto take care of environmental issues. The Manual is there for people who are extremely busy, have very little time to spare and are probably already struggling to try to work their way through all their existing reading material! Although the Manual is aimed at offices, the principles are e~uallyapplicable to other sectors, particularly schools, retailers, hospitality and small businesses. The Manual will enable you to structure your own environmental programme including: self-audits to assessyour current environmental performance, an environmental policy and simple action plans. There is also guidance onenvironmentalmanagementsystemsandhowtoreportonyourenvironmental performance. The Manualwill help you to: * *

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Identify what can be done, howit can be done and whowill help. Plan a successful and cost-effective approach to environmental issues. Produce an environment report which is relevant to your business and of interest to your stak~holders.

~ a s t e b u s t e r sexperience , of implementing successful environmental pro~rammes has enabled us tohighlight common problems and make sure you avoid them!

Improving environmentalperformance is nolongeroptional. Theminimum standards demanded by legislation require an awareness of the impacts of a business on its wider environment. However, the range of pressures is wider than legislation. take holders are increasingly demanding of organisations and there are potentially substantial cost savings from cutting energy and waste. Non-financial data such as community involvement and environmental impacts, are increasingly incorporated into mainstream financial decision-making by ethical fund managers and concerned investors.These pressures and opportunities can combine to exert a powerful influence on organisations.

The last 20 years have seen environmental legislation growfrom a few specific measures to a comprehensive programmeof regulation. The European Union has enacted over two hundred pieces of legislation covering pollution of the atmosphere, water andsoil, waste management, chemicals and b i o t e c h n o l o ~safeguards, product standards, environmental impact assessments and protectionof nature. In the ZIK the role of the Environment Agency is to protect and enhance the environment and it is one of the most powerful regulatorsin the world. Failing to comply with legislation is expensive and does major damage to an organisation’s reputation. Thereis also theprospect of directors beingheld responsible for their company‘s action and receiving jail sentences. The principle of making the polluter pay is being implemented through taxes and duties on pollution. This affects every business and organisation that uses resources or creates waste.

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In May 1999, the UK Government published A Better ~ ~ uof Lre: l j A~S t r u t e ~ ~ o r ~ e v ethe l o UK ~ ~ (DETR, e ~ t f o1999). r This strategy aims to meet four objectives: social progress which recognises the needs of everyone; effective protection of the en~ronment;prudent use of natural resources; and maintenanceof high and stable levels of economic growth and employment. In order to meet theseobjectives, the ~ o v e r n m ~will n t require businesses,local authorities and all organisations to take action. Waste minimisation is onearea in whicheveryonecanmakesignificant improvements through simple steps, Waste minimisation does not stop at the rubbish bin, it includes utilities such asenergy and water, transport and purchasing. ~verythingyou buy in is an asset to your company; wastage of resources is therefore detri~ental to your company and any cost savings you make through waste mini~isationgo straight toyour bottom line. The costs of waste disposal are rising. European and UK legislation requires increased environmental protection at waste disposal sites, leading landfill opera-

S~staj~a~~e

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tors to invest in highly engineered sites and to raise the costof disposal to landfil~ accordingly. The recently published Waste Strategy (DETR, 2000) sets out the ~overnment’s strategy for achieving more sustainable waste management and the role of business in achieving national targets.This document highlights the importance of the waste hierarchy of reduction, re-use, recovery and disposal. Waste reduction at source is always the best commercial and environmental option. Waste reduction is a growing area of business interest for ~ ~ org~nisat~ons. n y One of the principal driving forces for this trend is the realisation that waste is a commercial issue; the less wasteyou create, the lessyou pay to have it removed. Savings in waste disposal costs can be particularly significant. The costs of waste disposal tend to be underestimated, despite their recent substantial increase with the introduction of the landfill tax. They are likely to continue torise as the government discourages landfilling of waste. Efficient recycling andwasteminimisationprogrammescansignificantlyreduceyour waste disposal costs by retrieving materials for recycling and improving resource usage. On average 70 per cent of office waste is recyclable, so there is significant potential for savings. The Environ~ental ~rotection Act (Duty of Care)Regulations onwastealready impose stringent controls on the disposal of waste, placing an additional burden on the busy facilities management team. The initiativesdescribed in this manual can help reduce your liabilities under the Duty of Care and Special Waste Regulations.

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N u ~ e r o studies ~s have demonstrated a link between the e~vironmental policies and performance of companies. The Ethical Investment Research Service ( E N S ) is used by a growing numberof investorsin the UK to research the environ~ental and ethical track records of leading British companies. Insurers have begun to char higher premiums to those companies which cannot demonstr~teeffective environmental ~ a n a g e m e nstrategies t to reduce risks. New indexes such as the US Pow Jones Sustainability Index will gauge a 3

y’s grasp of wider sustainability issues, and environmental and social performance will become more important to investors as government and public attitudes changein defining the ‘sustainable business’.

o introduce mandatory re~uirements for industry to tal performance. However, the gove~nment stron companies to report ontheir environmenta~ impacts vo~untarily. The ar pressure on theFTSE 350 to produce environmenefforts to improve performance. Progress so far has nt of the FTSE 350 report in some form, only 19 per ges on their e n ~ r o n m e n t aimpacts. ~ gulatory approach by the ~ o v e r ~ m eisn tbeing f industry to take the voluntar~ approach, steady flow of specific guid panies who areyet to move on nnual list of the UK’s biggest nvironment publishes annual league tables of ent. The DETR has written to those non-reporti~g co~panies, some of

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ompanies should seek to integrate e global i m p ~ c t sof their ntal terms. These three etimes referred to as the triple bottom number of companies. See C ~ f f ~IO,t e ~ ent has been described as ‘develtions without compromising the to meet their own needs’, The concept aroseafter the only known as the Earth g international and national

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dustry and environmental inable business are to be one way companies can stated performance level. ~ n v i r o n ~ e n tgroups al in the compilation of environmenta~ reports,for , can in itself act as a con~ictresolving exercise. See C ~ f f ~ IO,t CQntacts e~ and

easingly want to know more bout the environmental implications 4

of the products and services they buy. The en~ronmentalreport is an effective way to communicate to customers, A company can answer any concerns its customers mayhaveregardingthepotentialenvironmentalconsequences of buyin products or services, and can inform customers of its efforts for improvement. By publishing these efforts, informed customers are lesslikely to migrate to competing firms who have incorporated their ‘environmentally friendly’ operationsin their marketing strategies.

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Many companies now communicatetheir social or economic impact on the community - whether through local employment, or donations to local charities. This can serve as very good publicity and demonstrates that a company ~cknowledges the importance of responsible citizenship. @

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Potential investors areincreasingly interested in a company’s environmentalperformance. For instance The Co-operative Bank’s ethical investment policy includes the pledge not to invest in companies that needlessly pollute the environment. This trend is being reinforced by the growth of ethical funds. Pressure groups and commercial companies have pledged to produce green ratings of companies as information for investors; this is likely to increase ethical investments among smaller lenders. Insurance companies have been quick to realise the potential impact of largescale future claims due to environmental problems and are increasingly including environmental criteria in their calculations of premiums. Organisations who have not fully assessed their risks and taken steps to manage them will find insurance companies will demand higher premiums or evenrefuse insurance altogether. Low environmental risk is critical to commercial lenders whose loans are secured on the basis of the physical assets of a company.If the assetsof a company default to a bank, that bank will be responsible for the environmental liabilities of the company. The cost of cleaning up contaminated land could end far up outweighing the value of the original loan. This is a risk few banks would be willing to take, Employee awareness of environmental issues is on the increase; pressure to implement sound environment~l practice,particularly recycling, often comes from staff rather than management. This enthusiasm needs to be tapped; it is a useful resource, providing motivation and creating awareness.The successful introduction of recycling schemes canhave avery positive effect on staff morale and canimprove communication, sinceit cuts across all business functions.

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Environmental issues are now included in the school syllabus. ~ r a d u a ~ are es increasingly aware of and concerned about the environmental credentials of the company they wishto work for. A company whichis seen to be responding positively to environmental issues is perceived as acting responsibly. 5

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The growthin environmental reporting hasled to a numberof benchmarking initiatives that compare performance against a number of criteria. Companies are able tobenchmarkthemselvesagainstothers in theirsector - aprocesswhich highlights their strengths and weaknesses against general practice.This can be a useful way of improving their own practices and may give fresh input into their own procedures and the effectiveness of their current systems. Examples are the Business in the Environment Index and the PIRC survey of the reporting efforts of the FTSE 350.

Very few small companies have seen environmental issues as an immediate pressure. Small companies can, however, gain considerable benefits from environmental awareness. Energy efficiency and waste minimisation measures can be implemented with no capital investment and can produce surprising savings. A simple environ~entalpolicy and action programme can have marketing benefits and may well become essential for selling to some companies andlocal authorities. Supply chain pressureis being encouragedby the growth of environmental management standards. These are voluntary standards that aim to improve environmental management practice by ensuring that it is addressed as an integral part of the management process. The main standards are IS0 14001 and the European Eco~ a n a g e m e nand t Auditing Scheme (EMAS). Certification provides an internationally recognised, and externally verified, testament to your commitme~t to continuous improvement of environmental performance. Those registering to these standards have found it an effective way of gaining a competitive advantage. Smaller firms have been slow torealise that the above factors are important their to business and to see any justification for reporting. However, many leading companies are beginningto assesstheir supply chains and theenvironmental performance of their suppliers and contractors. By collecting data and reporting in advance of this demand those proactive companies will retain or gain environmental performance-dependent business. Schools are under increasing financial pressures, and simple cost-effective initiatives which save money and generate income are highly valued. Environmental education is now part of the curriculum, and there is tremendous potential to link sound environmental practice within the running of the school with curriculum activities. For example: the introduction of recycling and waste reduction measures helps to raise awarenessof the value of resources, and setting up wormery a in the 6

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school grounds is both fun and educational^ Encouraging participation from children helps produce environmentally responsible adults.

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The success of Agenda 2 l’s global action plan for achieving sustainable developmentultimatelydependsonpracticalprojectsandlocalaction. It has been estimated that over two-thirds of the statements in Agenda 21 - the most significantoutcome of the 1992 EarthSummit - cannotbedeliveredwithoutthe cooperation and commitmentof local government. All local authorities should bedeveloping a local strategy for achieving sustainability - a Local Agenda 21 - and involving the whole community in doing so. Achieving a sustainable communitywill mean each local authority taking a leadin education and the provision of information promoting individual lifestyle changes, as well as reviewing its own planning and policy functions. As part of this commitment to Agenda 21, it is important that local authorities are demonstrating good practice within their own operations. For example, all local authorities are working towardsachieving the target of recycling or composting 25 per cent of household waste by the year 2005. It is therefore important to introduce waste minimisation and recycling measures in-house. An increasingnumber of localauthoritiesareusingtheEuropean Eco~ a n a g e m e n t a n Auditing d Scheme for local government (M-EMAS) to structure their environmental programmes.

Best Value is a key mechanism by which central government is working with local governments to modernise the way in which services are provided. Le~islation requires all principal local authorities to adopt the ‘BestValue performance management framework’. This involves undertaking fundamental reviews of all their activities over a five-year period. Local authorities must analyse both the need for a service and existing approaches to delivering it. They have to consult the public about service standards and cost, and users and the wider c o ~ m u n i t ywill be involved in reviewing current performance and setting ‘demanding targets for efficiency and quality improvements’ (DETR, 1998).Councils need to comparetheir services against those of the best local authorities and providers from the voluntary sectors. Competition remains ‘an essential tool for securing involvement’ (DETR, 1998) and there is a strong presumption in favour of voluntary co~petitivetendering, with authorities being encouraged to work closely with businesses, voluntary organisations and other service providers to establish a ‘more mixed economy of service provision’ (DETR, 1998). The aim is to take a broader view of competition. As part of Best Value, authorities have to publish detailed annual perfor~anceplans outlining past achievements. They need to measure their performance in terms of new national performance indicators devised by the Audit Commission (Audit Commission, 1998), to develop local performance indicators and to submit to regular Best Value inspections.

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vices is part of the Street ~ a n a g e m e n division t in the Environment Department of the London Borough of Camden.

vironment Services provide refuse collection and recycling and street cleaning services to everyone who lives, works in or visits Camden. The refuse collection and street cleaning services are provided on behalf of the Council by Serviceteam. The contract, which had a value in 1999/2000 of E8.15m, began in October 1996 and is due to expire in 2001. The Council provides recycling services, including a purpose-built recycling centre in Kentish Town, over 100 on-street mini-recycling sites and a glass collection service for businesses in Covent Garden. Camden was chosen to pilot the government’s Best Value initiative. Best Value is about meeting the needs of service users by delivering economic, efficient and effective services and having an overall commitment to continuous i~provement. As part of Camden’s year one programme in Environment Services carried out a fundamental service review ag CS of Best Value - challenge, compare, consult and compete.

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hallenging the purpose of the service helped the Council to focus on minimising waste generation in Camden, as opposed to just providing an efficient refuse collection service. Street Environment Services are now working on implementing their Best Value Action Plan. Not only does this include cost and efficiency targets, but also challenging targets forwaste reduction and recycling. They are also targeting key groups for consultatio~ and involvement,for example, working in partners~ip with Wastebusters Ltd to set up Waste Alert Camden, with over 50 businesses signed up to reduce their waste. Street Environment Services are also managing their own environ~entalimpact through their IS0 14001 environmental management system, certified in July 1999. This will help them to continuously improve and meet the principles of sustainable development, key requirements of 6est Value.

8

The Green ~ ~ ~ willchelp eyou to reduce ~ theenvironmental ~ n ~impacts ~ of your l office. Every office has activities that impact upon the environment, regardless of its size or activity. You can help to m i n i ~ i s ethese impacts by recognising where they occur, planning ways to avoid them and implementing your plans.~uantifyingyour current performancewill help you to assess yourenvironmental position, workout your own environmental footprint and monitor improve~ent.These results can be used to produce an Environment Report to communicate your environmental c o m m i t ~ e n t t oyour stakeholders, ~e also help you to benchmark your performance in relation to industry standards. The Manual is designed to do this in three ways according to the progress you have already made: If you are just getting startedon environmenta~ improvements, the Manual sets out a structured approach to identifying and tackling the key environmental issueswithin a plannedprogramme. The chaptersonEnvironmental ~ a n a g e m e n and t Environmental Reporting explain how to achieve accreditationtoanenvironmental m nagementstandardorhowtoproducean environ~entreport. If you have an established environmental programme but you need help with specific issues in the office, you can use thisManual as a reference book. Where you need guidance on specific issues go to the relevant chapter. Further information on legislation, useful contacts, publications and other sources of help are listed in Chapter 10, Resources. Each of the main chapters covers a specific functional area, highlighting the key envi~onmental issues,relevant legislation and the practical action you can take to reduce theenvironmental impact of your office. Chapters are further divided into s~bsections,each describing a specific issue. Each subsection ends with a s ~ m m a r yof the points you should cover in your environmental programme.You can use these~ u m m a r yGuidelines as a checklistto make sure you have covered all the i ~ p o r t a npoints. t

In addition the Manual contains:

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zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihg Common pitfalls and how to avoid them? Case studies, covering a broad cross-section of industry sectors and organisation sizes, used to illustrate particular issues. (Case studies are based on ~ a s t e b u s t e ~auditing s’ work and on theexperience of other organisations.~ A Resources chapter with contact details of useful organisations and publications available. This includes details of relevant websites. All organisations mentioned in the text are listed.

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If you are just starting, or have introduced or onetwo informalenvironmenta~initia-

tives, you need to take a planned approach to ensure long-term success. The challenge is to make environmental issues part of your company culture. See Cha~ter7,C o ~ ~ ~ ~ i ~ a t i o n

This section outlines a simple process that you can follow to establish and maintain an environ~ental programme and quantify your environmental performance. References are made in the text to chapters in the Manual that provide infor~ation and support at each stage. To implement a formal environmental management system, guidanceis given in Chapter 8, ~ n v i r o ~ ~ e ~ t a l ~ a n Ua can ~ ealso ~ erefer ~ t tothischapter for moredetail on thestepsoutlinedbeloport publicly andbenchmarkyour performance against industry standards. See Chapt~r9, ~ ~ v i r o n ~ e ~ t a l ~ e p o r t 11

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If you want to develop a meaningful environmenta~ programme you need to accept that you will have to change the way you do things. The first step is to get senior management commitment. Without this commitment youwill be unableto overcome the barriersto change ortackle difficult issues such as transportand purchasing. To convince top management to commit themselves to an environmental mme you will need to spell out the business benefits. Chapter 1 Why Green ffice? sets out the ~usiness case for sound environmental practice.

tives or depend on vo~unteersoften find it difficult to m a i ~ t a i nmomentum. ~olunteershave other calls upon their time and s c h e m ~ sthat use the enthusiasm of a single individua~ cancollapse if that person leaves. ~aintaininggood enviro~mentalpractice in your company after the initial e n t h u s i ~wears s ~ off presents a major s t u ~ b l i n gblock for organisations.

ng to do the work! ~ p p o i n at project m a ~ a g e r ate the progr~mme.Each key functional area anisations, a team membermay be y areas are set out in Chapters 3 to 6. The

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Purchasing l n f o r ~ a t i o n technologyandreprographics and energy management Sales and marketing. Press and PR and external affairs Personnel and training.

Don’t forget to include your contractors, particularlyforcatering,cleaningand mechanical and electrical (M i s particularly important if facilities managementandpropertyservicesare contracted out. In a small office these may all come under one person?

1

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In starting any new initiative you need to establish your current perform~nce.A review of current practice and how this affects the environment will provide a baseline from which you can improve and quantify current perforrnance.

The key to the successof an environmental ~ r o ~ r a m mi se to involve peopleinthe process. This enables them to contribute their ideas and helps togain their comrnitment to the intro~uction of the programme. Include keen staff whether or not they have any specific responsibility for any of the areas covered by the review. Many organisations involve staff in the design of initiatives at anearly stage andin our experience this is often a successful way of sustaininginitiatives(Chapter 7 ~ornmunicationgives you information on involvingstaff togenerateideasand action).

1

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Assess your current performance in a systematic way to help you to develop your programme and identify priorities. In a small organisation, each memberof the audit team might have responsibility for several areas; the ‘team’ may even consist of one person - the office or facilities manager. In a large organisation, each team memberwill have responsibility for a particular functional area; the structured natureof the methodology means that it can be extended to cover multiple-site organisations.

Hold meetings with relevant staff and management. In large organisations, each team member would discuss issues with their department. Some organisations, such as local authorities, will have regular team meetings at which the review can be held. In small organisations, the project team are likely to provide all the necessary information themselves. To make sure that you are identifying all the relevant information you can use theSummary Guidelines at the endof each chapter of the Manual as a checklist.

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In order to help you to recognise the general effects that you have on the environment useTable 2 . l . This identifies the typical environmental effects of an office. The table links the activity and effect to the chapter heading. Use the table to identify the issues relevant to your organisation.

The review will assess your current position. The next stage is to decide what you can do toimprove and how you can do it. A policy setting outyour commitment to environmental improvements provides the framework for this process. If the environment is to be integrated into normal businesspractice a commitment from senior management is essential. A formal policy signed by senior management adds this essentialcredibility. (Chapter 8, Environmenta~ Management gives further information ondesigning policy statements.~

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There is often a large gap between policy and action? ~nvironmental policies need to be backed up with arealistic and achievable action plan.An action plan is simply an organised way of making sure that staff know what they can do, when and how (Table 2.2 gives an example of a simple action plan that can be used to structure your environmental initiatives). Use the information contained in Chapters 3 to 8 to develop your action plan.

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ble 2 .1 ~ ~ i cenvi~on~ental al effrtcts of the office

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Energy use (heating, lighting, PCs etc) Refrigeration, fire air conditioning Transport

c02

Global Warming

CFCs, HCFCs and

Depletion theof layer

Halons

CO,, NO,,

so,,

particulates

Cleaning Various and grounds maintenance

chemicals

Water use

Water

Paper purchasing Furniture

Paper

All areas of office the of Use IT equipment

Wood

General waste

IT waste

Building Management

ozone

Building ~anagement

Global w a r ~ i n g Ill health

Transport

Pollution of water courses

Purchasing

Energy required to deliver to your office Reduction in diverse wildlife habitats ~estructionof old growth forests

Building ~anagement Purchasing Purchasing

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Wastes natural resources causesand air and water pollution Wastes natural resources and contains toxic materials

Office W ~ s t e

Office Waste

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Identify the practical action you can take, set improvement targets and allocate responsibilities.

Your action plan may look impressive but it is only effective if you monitor improvement over time. Reviews help you to find out what you have achieved, where your problems lie and whatyou can do about them.An annual review will help to define new objectives and targets to ensure~ontinuousimprovement.

If, having developeda planned approach,you wish to go one stepfurther into a formal ~ n v i r o n ~ e n tmanagement al system, Chapter 9, ~ n ~ r o n m e n t a l ~ a n a g gives ~m~nt, you a full description of the necessary steps and certification schemes. The formal

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Recycle ~ 0 % of wast Paper

January 2000

A Manager

Reduction in waste of disposal cost

Amount paper being recycled

Reduce total yearly waste production per person by 5%

January 2000

R Waste

Reduction in waste disposal cost

Total yearly waste Per person

Set up office paper recycling scheme Encourage staff to use scheme Donate savings on disposal costs to charity Use email for all internal memos Print and photocopy double sided where possible Ask suppliers to take back waste packing

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route has a numberof advantages; in particular it can be externally verified to give your ~ n ~ ~ o n m ~programme ntal public cre~ibility.

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~nvironmentalreporting can help you make the most of your efforts. Being open about your e n v i ~ o ~ m e n tposition al will pro mot^ responsible ~nvironmental management.

1

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~fficient waste reduction, re-use andrecycling measures will s i ~ n i f ~ c a nreduce t~y your waste disposal costs. Waste reduction at source- careful purchasin~to prevent waste - is environmentally and com~ercially the best option. Accurate assessment of the raw materia~s re~uired by your organisation and consi eration of the whole life cycle of products will reduce waste and improv~efficiency. L i ~ e ~ i sthe e , introduction of preferred waste management options, such as donation of obsolete furniture to charity or recycling of all white paper, will reduce the volumeof material going into your bins and, in doing so, significantly reduce disposal costs. The practical actions described in this chapter will help you to reduce the environmental impactof your office by cutting the volume of waste going to ~ a n d ~ ~ l and reducing the amount of e ~ e r g yused to produce v i r ~ i n ater rials t h r o u g ~ increased re-use and recyclin . This chapter will also raise your relevant environmenta~ legislation whichi s s~gnificantly affecting how wasteis , the volume of waste produced can be quite low. In this case, it

find a contractor e ill in^ to collect material for ~ e c y c l i n and ~; l for later collection can be a problem due to l i ~ i t ~ storage d space. The answer i s to reduce the waste t source, as described under ~ a s t e ~ e d u c t i olater ~ , in this chapter. Offices in multi-tenanted buildings should ~pproach other tenants and landlords to create joint recycling schemes. Schools are under increasing financial pressures.The introduction of mixed paper recycling schemes in schools will reduce disposal costs and can also raise additiona~revenue for the school from recycling credits. Waste reduction ~ e a s u r e s improve use of resources and are also cost effective. Likewise, central g o v e ~ ~ m e n t and local authoritiesareunderincreasingsuretoensurethattheir in-~ouse practicesareconsistentwiththewaste r ionand recycling messagesthey promote to thepublic. The ~ o v e r n ~ eisn committed t to reducing its own wasteand ~reening its operations. A new Cabinet Committee on the ~ n v i r o n ~ ehas n t been established and a network of Green ~ i n i s t e r sone , in each ~ h i t e ~ a l ~ d e p a r t ~ e n t , are responsible for d e v e l o p i ~polic ~ S and targets which will enable their departments to manage ~uildings andbuy ods and services in a sustainabl~way. any governmentdepartmentsand local oritiesare conduct in^ office wasteminimisation audits and implement in^ improvement plans in order to demonstrate practice.

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The government'sWhite Paperon Waste, Waste StrutegyZOOOfor ~ n ~ l a and n d Wales (DETR, ZOOO), forms part of the UK's Sustainable Development Strategy, A Better ~~a~~~ ofLi$e (DETR, 1999),' and emphasises the need to reduce the amounts of industrial, commercial and domestic waste produced eachyear. This requires an urgent increase in minimisation of waste at source and increased rates of recycling and recovery (meaning recycling, composting and materials or energyrecovery).

The Waste Strategy sets a new target to reduce the amount of industrial and commercial waste landfilled to 85 per cent of 1998 levels by 2005. In 1998/1999, 42 million tonnes of commercial and industrial waste werelandfilled. The government wants businesses to consider the waste hierarchy when making decisionson waste disposal, in particular that: 0

0

incineration with energy recovery i s only considered after opportunities for waste reduction, recycling and cornposting have been explored; and waste is disposed of as close to the place of production as possible - the 'proximity principle'.

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The government also plans new Producer Responsibility targets for certain industrial sectors; an initiative to reduce junk mail (3.3.billion items were sent to UK consumers in 1999) is to be developed and there is an increased target for the recycled content of newspaper to 70 per cent by 2007. An aggregates levy is also to be introduced in 2002. The strategy also looks to business to: 0

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Set targets for waste reduction, and for the FTSE 3502 to report publicly on progress. Seek out new uses for waste products and recycled materials. Design products which can be recycled more easily. Devise schemes to inform consumers about recycled content of products.

Attention is drawn to the importance of waste for climate change through greenhouse gases released during transportation, landfill and incineration and the potential for displacing the burningof fossil fuels through energyfrom waste plants. There was also indication that fees for Special Waste consignment notes may be reduced where waste is being moved to recycling or recovery. l Down to Earth (Scottish Executive, 1999) outlines the major issues of sustainable development in Scotland. In Wales, the National Assembly is drawing up its proposal for the promotion of sustainable development. In Northern Ireland it is anticipated that many issues relating to sustainable development will be matters for the new Assembly, in line with the draft Regional Strategic Framework, Shaping our Future (Department of the Environment, NI, 1998). 2 The top 350 companies as listed on the UKs Financial Times Stock Exchange.

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r local authorities, to limit the landfi~lof biodegradable municipal waste,the strategy also includes two new sets of statutory targets for local authorities under the Best Value initiative. For management of municipal wastes these are: *

to recover value from 40 per cent of waste by 2005, 45 per cent by 2010 and 67 per cent by 201 5. ‘Recover’ means to obtainvalue through recycling, composting, material recovery (suchas anaerobic digestion) or energy recovery (through combustion or otherfuel producing technologies).

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An essential part of being able to meet these recovery targets is the achievement of of statutory targetsfor recyclingand compostingof household waste: the second set *

to recycle or compost at least 25 per cent of household waste by 2005, 30 per cent by 20 10 and 33 per cent by 20 15.

The Greening Government programme, working to improve the environmental performance of departments, will be boosted by a new pilot scheme which will require public procurement of recycled products, beginning with paper goods.This will be developedby the DETR and theOffice of Government Commerce (whichwas established in April 2000 to bring together the Treasury’s Procurement Group, The Buying Agency, Central Computers and Telecommunications Agency and Property Advisors to the Crown Estate). Guidanceis already provided on green purchasingin ~ ~ v i r ~ n ~ eIssues n t f finl ~ u r c ~ ( ~~ E s Ti ~~e ~a s unote); r y however, the pilot project will go much further, putting in environmental policies which designate recycledcontent products for purchasing. The strategy also emphasises the importance of partnerships between public and private sector bodies in developing waste solutions, and gives recognition to the valuable role of community sector organisations and initiatives.The government plans a Waste and Resources Action Programme, to provide advice and guidance to industry and promote waste exchanges.

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All waste management options including the sending of waste to incineration, are

discussed. The strategy suggests that incineration should only be consideredafter recycling and recovery options have been examined, butstates thatfor cases where recycling or recovery are not worthwhile, it may well form a significant part of a sustainable waste strategy. In summary, businesses and local authorities need to take a harder look at the benefits of waste reduction and theenvironmental savings to be had from recycling in order to meet these new requirements.

19

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The legal definition of waste is ’any substance or object which the producer or the person in possession of it discards or intends oris required to discard’. controlled waste’ is any household, commercial or industrial waste such as waste from a house, shop, office, factory, building site or any other business premises.

There is a vast amount of legislation relating to the storage,handling and disposal of waste and it is often difficult for office managers to know what is relevant to them. The keypieces of legislation that your company mustcomply with are detailed below. Waste policy in the UK is constantly developing, primarily in response to our international and European commitments.Many of the directives aim to harmonise measures concerningdifferent waste streams toavoid obstacles to trade and distortion of competition within the European Community. The government also has an important role in the international aspectsof waste; theimporting and exporting of waste is tightly regulated. Oneof the most importantdrivers of UK waste legislation was the 1975 Framework Directive (amended in 1991) which established general rules for waste management,An important objective of the Directive is to ensure:

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‘that waste is recovered or dispose^ of without e n d a n ~ e r i n~~ u ~ health ~ a n and without using processesor et hods which could h a r ~the environ~ent and in particu~ar~ithout: 0

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Risk to wate4 ai4 soil,plants or ani~als.

~ a u s i nuisanc~ n~ throu~h noise or odours. adverse^ a ~ ~ c tthe i ncount~side ~ or places of special ~nterest’

Emphasis is placed on the prevention, reduction, re-use andrecycling of waste and on the use of waste as a source of energy. In the IJK, the Directive has been largely implemented through the En~ronmentalProtection Act (Part 11) 1990 and the Waste ~ a n a g e m e n Licensing t Regulations 1994. 8

8

The Environmental Protection Act (EPA 1990) introduced the Duty of Care, which aims to curbillegal disposal of controlled waste. A legal duty of care is imposed on everyone involved in the waste chain,from producer, to transporter, to disposer, to take all reasonable steps to ensure that waste is handled responsibly and that each participant in the waste management chain is carrying out their obligations under the legislation. If a waste producer gives their waste to someone else to dispose of, for example a subcontractor,they are responsible for ensuring that the subcontractor is authorised to handle and transport that waste and recycles or disposes of it safely. Anyonebreaking this law can be fined an unlimited amount. The main implications of the Duty of Care are:

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20

* * *

zyxwvutsrq zyxwvuts A business must know how much waste it generates and what it consists of. A business must ensure that its waste is collected by a Registered Waste Carrier

or Exempt Carrier.

A waste transfer note containing a description of the waste for disposal or

recycling must be raised.

A business must satisfy itself that its waste is dealt with properly and legally

*

through the disposal chain, to the extent that it can reasonably be expected to ensure safe disposal. Material collected for recycling is still classed as waste and its disposal or recycling is governed by waste regulations.

Further guidance on the application of the Duty of Care is available in a practical e of ~ Care e ~- A ~Code ~ o f ~ r f f c ~(DETR, ~ce guidance note, Waste ~ a ~ f fThe~Duty 1996).

Proper storage of waste is required under the Duty of Care Regulations. Waste producers must ensure that waste is secure to prevent leakage and spillage. General office waste is usually relatively innocuous; however, hazardous and Special Wastes such as paints, solvents and large volumes of batteries or fluorescent tubes do arise and should be dealt with according to the relevant regulations. Storage of wastes should at least comprise the following: *

*

hold in^ general wastes. Access to skips by third parties could result in illegal deposit of hazardous or Special Wastes with general wastes. In the case of multi-tenanted premises, even where the company has little control over wastes from other tenants being mixed with their general wastes for disposal, you are responsible for checking that the storage facilities are satisfactory. Hazardous and Special Wastes should be stored in a secure and preferably contained area to control spills or leaks. Flammable wastes in suf~cientquantity require specifically designed storage. Incompatible wastes must be segregated. See C ~ a ~5,~~e r ~ ~ i~ ~ ~d ~ ~ e ~ ~ ~ e ~ t

A secure area for storage of skips

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Under the EPA - Duty of Care legislation, the duty to correctly dispose of waste lies with the original waste producer: you cannot delegate this legal responsibility to your contractors. However, failure to comply is not an offence of strict liability once the waste has been transferred to a carrier or disposal contractor - if the waste producer can prove that they took all reasonable measures to ensure that the waste was dealt with properly and legally. Since no precise ~efinitionof ’reasonable measures’ is given in the Regulations or the Approved Code of Practice, it is essential to use reputable contractors who will comply with the Duty of Care on your behalf. Anyone found to be breaking this law can be fined an unlimited amount. To verifv a contractor’s comnliance. vou should:

21

0

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zyxwvutsrqponmlkji Make surethatthecontractorprovidesthenecessarypaperwork(see ~ocumentation,below). Check that the waste carrier has a current certificate of registration or exemption and make sure you have a copyof it. Check that the disposal sites used arelicensed to accept the wastes being taken to them: either check the waste disposal site licence or contact the Environment Agency. Check the exemptions of sites receiving waste for recycling. Find out what happens to the material when it leaves your premises. Visit the contractor’s premises and disposal sites to make sure that what the contractor tells you actually does happen. Ensure that you are happy with the security of the contractor’s operations.See Case Study 4.5

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oc~mentation

When waste (including material for recycling) is passed from one person to another, a transfer note must be filled in and signed by both persons. Repeated transfers between the same parties can be covered by one transfer note for up to year. a Both people involved in the transfer must keep copies of the transfer note and description of waste on file for two years. The written description must provideas much information as someone elsemight need to handle the wastesafely. The transfer note must include: 0

9 0 0

* 0

0 0

A description of what the waste is and how much there is.

q p e and size of containers it is in. Time and date the waste was transferred. Names and addresses of both persons involved in the transfer. Certificate number of the registered waste carrier (where applicable) and name of the Environment Agency which issued it. Licence number of the waste mana~ementlicence (where applicable) and name of the Environment Agency which issued it. Reasons for any exemption from the requirement to register or have a licence. Name and address of any broker involved in the transfer of the waste.

si A waste management licence is required by anyone wanting to deposit, recover or dispose of waste. Licences are issuedby the EnvironmentAgency or SEPA. The objec-

tive of the waste management licensing system is to comprehensively license waste management activities, including the competence of operators to ensure thatthey: 0 0

0

do not cause pollution of the environment; do not cause harm to human health; do not become seriously detrimental to the amenities of the locality.

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There are a number of waste management activities that do not require a licence, including sorting, shredding andbaling wastes for recycling and storing waste ready for these operations. From 1 January 1995 it has been a legal requirement for such an establishment toregister their exemption. 22

This legislation has further increased the cost of waste iisposal as waste brokers must now pay for a waste management licence. In October 1996 the government introduced the Landfill Tax. The tax is levied according to the weight of waste disposed and is charged through the waste disposal contractor, back to the waste producer. Charging higher rates for disposal of waste is an incentive to reduce the quantities of waste produced as the tax is inevitably charged back to the waste producer. An organisation taking steps to reduce waste will therefore see immediate financial benefits. The Landfill Tax was increased to E l 1 per tonne on 1 April 2000 and is set to increase annually by E l per tonne till 2004. European and UK legislation also requires increased environmental protection at waste disposal sites, leading landfill operators to invest in highly engineered sites and to raise the cost of disposal to landfill accordingly. The Landfill Tax is intended to reflect the indirect costs of disposing of waste to landfill which are not represented through the original disposal charge. The tax has become part of a gradual package of tax reform, moving taxation away from personal income and on to pollution and other environmental concerns. Revenue raised through the Landfill Tax can be used by newly established environmental trusts to minimise the effects of landfill and encourage waste minimisation at source.

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A key principle of the European Union’s en~ronmentpolicy is that the cost of prevent-

ing pollution or of minimising en~ronmentaldamage due to the pollution should be borne by those responsible for the pollution. En~ronmental’taxes’ are increasingly used as a mechanism for encouraging less polluting alternatives and practices. Packaging waste

Packaging waste is the only element of the waste stream currently subject to producer responsibility legislation. Packaging makes up around 7-1 0 per cent of industrial, commercial and municipal waste and is currently estimated at around 10 million tonnes annually. The UK has implemented the EC Directive on Packaging g Waste (1 994) through the PrQd~cerR e s ~ Q n § i ~ i ) R e ~ u l a t i ~ n 1997 § and the Packa ~~l~tiQ 1998. n § These regulations, whic Scotland and Wales (similar regulations are in place in Northern Ireland), aim to raise the level of recovery and recycling of packaging waste and ensure that packaging is manufactured to minimum requirements in terms of hazardous material content, durability and recyclability. In 1999, the government announced several immediate and planned changes to the Regulations. Businesses that have an annual turnover in excess of E2 million in April 2000 and handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging or packaging materials in any one year are oblirzated under the rerzulations.

23

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Note that ‘handling’ of packaging refers to packaging which you supply on to your customers,not packaging that is waste onyour premises (iepackaging around goods that you use). This packaging is the obligation of your supplier, who may contact youfor information regarding the disposal of this material. You may be able to use this opportunity to get suppliers to takeback packaging when they deliver, thereby fulfilling their obligations and reducing your costs.Conversely, any packaging you makeor use to distribute your products contributes your to own obligation. Obligated companies must: * *

* *

Register with an appropriate agency (EA or SEPA) or join a registered collective collection scheme. Recover and recycle a percentage of their packaging waste (specific percentages will depend on where the business is in the packaging chain, ie packaging manufacturer; converter;packer filler; retailer). Provide annual data on the amountof packaging handled, recycled or recovered. Inform customers about their role in increasing recovery and recycling (retailers only).

The government has set targets that 43 per cent of packaging waste should be recovered and 10 per cent recycled by the end of 1999 and 45 and 13 per cent respectively in the year 2000. The Environment Agencyhas a dutyto monitor compliance withthe Regulations in England and Wales and, where appropriate, to take enforcement action.To date, three companies have been prosecutedfor non-compliance. Many offices do not handle enough packaging to be directly obligated; however, the Regulations may impacton your operations in a number of ways, in particular:

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*

If you supply goods to a business which is obligated, they may ask you to give

*

As the cost of packaging increases as a result of this and other waste-related

details of the weight of the packaging which you supply to them.

legislation, it makes sense to look critically at the way you package your products. You should also investigate whether packaging can be economically recycled or even better avoided altogether through re-usable packaging or improvements in processes or distribution. e ~ u i r e ~ ~ nRt es~) u l ~ t i o n1 s ~~~

These regulations came intofull effect in January 1999 to cover the EC Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste (1994) provisions on waste minimisation, avoidance of noxious and hazardous substances and the need for packaging to be re-usable orrecoverable.

24

Proposed legislation

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This proposed Directive sets out measures that aim at: e e

Preventing waste electrical and electronic equipment. Reusing, recycling and other forms of recovery of such wastes. ~inimisingthe risks and impacts to the environment associated with the treatment and disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment.

Estimates suggest that electrical and electronic equipment make up 2-3 per cent of the entire European waste stream and this figure is set to rise. This new Directive will have a large impact on both producers and users of electronic and electrical goods but it is not expected to be implemented until 2002-2003. The EG Directive on the Landfill of Waste came into force on 16 July 1999. The Directive aims to harmonise controls on the landfill of waste throughout the EU and its main focus is on common standards for design, operation and aftercare of landfill sites. It also aims to reduce the amount of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, emitted from landfill sites. ~ u n i c i p a biodegradabl~ l waste has been targeted for reduction as it is the biodegradable element of waste which produces methane as it breaks down. This Directive will require substantial changes to the way we manage waste in the UK. The main requirements of the Landfill Directive are: 6

e

e 6

*

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By 2016 to reduce bio~egradablemunicipal waste to landfill to 35 per cent of the total produced in 1995. ~ a n n i n gco-disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes and requiring separate landfills for hazardous, n o n - ~ a ~ a r d oand u s inert wastes. Bannin~landfill of tyres (by 2003 for whole tyres, 2006 for shredded tyres). Banning land~llingof liquid wastes, infectious clinical waste and certain types of hazardous waste (eg explosive, highly ~ammable)all by 2001. Provisions on the control, monitor in^, reporting and closure of sites.

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Government and industry initiatives

The government’s Waste S ~ r a 2000 ~ e ~for E ~ and ~ ~ ~(DETR, ~ ~2000), e sn acknowledges that changes in the way we think about waste and resources are essential to achieving sustainable development. This document highlights the importance of the waste hierarchy of reduction, re-use, recovery and disposal. The primary targets set out in Waste st^^^^^ 2000 are:

25

~

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0

*

to reduce industrial and commercial waste sent tolandfill to 85 per cent of 1998 levels by 2005; to recover 45 per cent and recycle or compost 30 per cent of municipal waste by 2010,

Waste from industry and commercereceives a high profile within the draft strategy, which states, ‘Where waste is created we must recognise waste as a resource and recover more value from it’. The Landfill andtheregulationsimplementingthe Landfill Directive are considered to be the main instruments for achieving these goals. The UK is also likely to see anincrease in incineration as a means of disposing of its rising waste burden. The Waste Strategy reinforces the importance of the waste hierarchy of reduction, re-use, recovery and disposal.Waste reduction at sourceis always the best commercial andenvironmentaloption. Reducing wasteatsourcethroughcareful purchasing and better utilisation of materials is the best way to make dramatic savings onyour waste costs and reduceyour impact on the environment.(Consider the recyclability and ultimate disposal of a product when making purchasing decisions, seeChapter 4, Furchasing.) Following this you should aim to re-use and recycle as much of the waste generatedin your office as possible. Disposal of waste to landfill or incineration should be a last resort after all the above options have been considered.

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The ~ W A is I the largestdedicated waste awareness campaign ever launched in the UK. The campaign targets the general public and aims to achieve a measurable

26

change in awareness, attitudes and behaviour towards waste throughout the UK. Its objectives are: to improve the public’s understanding of waste issues and recognition of the need for waste management facilities of all kinds; increase the level of personal ownership and responsibility for waste; and to promote reduction, re-use and recycling. The initiative has been developed with the support of a wide range of sectors including non-governmental organisations, waste management companies, community recycling groups, regulators and central government and was of~cially launched in April 2000, The campaign is recognised by the government in its Waste Strategy and will produce a nationally recognised branding for waste awareness ~nitiativeswith the ~exibilityto adapt to local campaigns. Tidy Britain Group is an independent charity campaigning for the improvement of local environments. It has a specific brief as the national anti-litter organisation.

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Several local authorities now run business environment awards or tidy business schemes. An example of this is the Clean City Awards Scheme. Launched in 1994, the Clean City Awards Scheme is an initiative by the Corporation of London designed to develop a partnership with City businesses to achieve a cleaner environment through improved waste management. The scheme aims to: *

* * * *

~ r o m o t egood waste man~gementpractices. Reduce waste stored on the highway. Ensure compliance with the Duty of Care regulations. Improve security. Encourage City organisations to take pride in their surroundings.

Entry into the award is free and there are now 450 premises registered on the Scheme, They represent 288 companies and 57 per cent of the 66,000 tonnes of commercial waste collected in the City over the past year by the Corporation’s waste collection contractor. Annual awards are given to businesses that meet a range of criteria following regular monitoring of their premises. Premier Awards are given to the two most outstanding sites each year.

Commercial waste in the UK is estimated at 2 1-29 million tonnes per annum (DETR, 1999a). The majority of waste from offices is disposed to landfill (85 per cent), 7.5 per cent to incineration and just 7.5 per cent is recycled or re-used. 27

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There is significant pressure to increase the amount of waste that is recycled or reused as a result of the negative impacts of the UK's increasing waste burden. The disposal of general waste has asignificant environmental impact: 0

0 0 0

Landfill sites can emit landfill gases (primarily methane and carbon dioxide). Both are significant greenhouse gases. Leachates from landfill sites can cause groundwater contamination. Landfill is unsightly and an inefficient use of land. There is a shortage of landfill sites: some of London's waste is transported to Oxfordshire for disposal. There is concern over the controlof emissions from incinerators.

Landfill gas can be harnessed as a valuable source of energy. Methane capture is currently practised at over 150 landfill sites in the UK and in 1996 generated 136 MW of electricity. In the UK, incineration is expected to have an increasing role in sustainable waste management strategies. Incineration is the burning of waste at high temperatures; this reduces theweight of the waste by about two-thirds and its volumeby 90 per cent. uncontrolled burning of waste can give off poisonous gases such as hydrochloric acid, dioxins and furans, and heavy metals. This often gives rise to concerns regarding the local impacts of incineration. However, very tough emission standards, stricter than those which apply to fossil fuel combustion, now apply to energy from waste plants. Energy can be recovered from waste through direct waste incineration, through its use as a fuel substitute, through material recovery where energy is released as part of the process and through recovery of fuel (primarily methane) from landfill. There are currently 10 energy-from-waste plants in the UK generating some 200 megawatts (MW), enough electricity for a quarter of a million homes. Others are being constructed and planned. The potential for EfW is at least 1000 MW of renewable energyby 20 10-20 15. In addition to ~eneratingelectricity, there is the opportunity for combined heat andpowerplantswhichcanprovideheating for neighbouringhomesand businesses. The government is promoting the uptake of combined heat and power (CHP) plants as they will also be a key factor in meeting our greenhouse gas emission targets. Waste incineration with energy recovery combined with CHP plant and community heating systems has the potential to provide an integrated, sustainable and cost effective means of managingwaste locally, particularly in urban areas. Incineration without energy recovery is categorised as waste disposal alongside landfill and is not seen asa favourable option in most cases.

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To assess the potential for reduced waste disposal costs for your company, you

need to first investigate your current waste disposal arrangements. Some companies carry out a waste audit to establish a baseline against which progress can be measured. Larger organisations may find it cost effective to employ consultants to undertake their waste audit and prepare an action plan. A waste audit should:

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Assess compliance with Duty of Care on the handling, storage and disposal of all wastes. * Identify all points at which waste is produced. Establish methods for accurately measuring waste. Identify any hazardous wastes and consider how they can be eliminated or separated. Establish priorities for waste minimisation schemes. * Look at op~ortunitiesto reduce, re-use or recycle wastes. Set quantified targets for waste reduction. Set responsibilities and timescales for achieving these targets.

0

0

0

0

0 0

aste disposal. Charges are usually based on the size and number of containers and the frequency of collection. It is essential to find out exactly how charges are calculated as you may be overcharged, particularly if your waste minimisation and recycling efforts are successful in reducing the waste to be collected. Remember that the true cost of waste includes the value of the paper, stationery, furniture and other equipment that you are throwing away. Check your bins and see if there is anything that should not be there. Could any wastes be avoided, re-used or recycled? Additional disposal costs that should be included in your waste costs may be: clinical or sanitary waste; confidential waste (see below); special wastes (solvents and paints); ad hoc building and maintenance waste skips and recycling collection charges. e at source or r erials uce the size an ~o~le~t

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Use Table 3.1 to calculate your total annual waste disposal cost.

29

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ble 3 . 1 General waste dis~osalcosts ~ ~ r n of bins ~ eCost r of collection Rental charges eneral waste per year one bin of or fees disposa! pa cost

(E)

le 3.2 Additional waste disposal costs Ad hoc skips/ collections

Recycling collection Special and sanitary waste charges collection charges

Additional waste disposal cost (6)

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le 3.3 Total annual waste ~ i s ~ o scosts al Additional eneral waste waste disposal cost (E)

disposal cost

(E)

Total annual waste disposal cost (E)

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Identify the size and type of waste containers currently used. Contact your waste of material that they will take at each contractor to establish them a ~ i ~ uvolume m collection. You may be able to make substantial savings by reducing the number of bins, their size or frequency of collection. I f a significant proportion of your waste is paper or cardboard (that cannot be reduced at source or recycled), investigate the cost effectiveness of investing in a compactor.

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Other Paper anilla Food

stic

Waste streama n a ~ s i s f o r ~ a s t e ~ Ltd: u s t eAn r s exam~leof a good practice office

30

zyx zyxwv zyxwvutsrq zyx zyxw Standard capacities of waste bins based on ~ a n d ~Tax ll ~ Excise) s calculations (~~ C u s t ~ 6i

A black sack 1100 (Euro bin) 950 (paladin)

10-1 5

220 190 132 72 48 24

660 360 240 120

le 3.5 ~ e iof ~c o~ ~ t ~ waste o n products

4000 glass wine bottles

1 tonne (0.25 kg each) 1 tonne (0.02 kg each) 1 tonne 2 kg 2.5 kg

50,000 drinks cans 250,000 plastic vending cups One laser printer toner cartridge One ream (500 sheets) of A4 paper (80 gsm)

Identify storage restraints and potential areas for additional short-term storage. Storage areas should be assessed for fire risk. Ensure storage areas are adequately secure and well signposted to prevent them becoming a dumping ground! A waste audit should identify re-usable and recyclable products entering the waste

stream and highlight where avoidable wastage may be occurring. Every office produces varying quantities of waste; however, the proportion of waste types is surprisingly consistent across all offices. The proportions of plastic and cardboard are high in this office (Figure 3.2) because an effective recycling programme for paper and glass removes these materials from the waste stream. Wastebusters are currently unable to recycle cardboard and plastic effectively, and have therefore made a specific target of reducing these

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le 3.6 ~eady-rec~oner: Total waste ~roduced

4 x 660 litre

bins

4 x 60 kg = 240 kg

50 collections

Pa

50 x 240 kg = 12,000 kg

31

1

zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba White paper

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57

6840 kg

wastes through wasteminimisation, liaison with suppliers and re-use where possible. Produce a pie chart of your office waste stream, and comparewith Figure 3.2. Contact yourwaste management contractorfor a guideto theaverage weightof your bins.Waste contractors arelegally bound to weighevery load they receive but it is often difficult to get specific figures as waste is collected from several premises during a round. If you are unable to determine the actualweight of your bins, use ures in Tables 3.4 and 3.5 as a guide. ation in Table 3.6 to translate the volumeof your waste bins into weight in kilograms. This figure should I the weight of waste you recycle using the figures in Tables 3.4 and 3.5. eme ember to add thevolumes of any ad hoccollections of bulk wastes identified above. Use the ready-reckoner in Table 3.7 to estimate the percentages of the main waste types in your waste stream.For example, if your company producesa total of 12,000 kg of waste per annum and you have estimated that 1320 kg of this is paper, you can calculate that 1 1 per cent of your total waste is paper. Paper is easily recyclable and diverting it from your general waste to landfill can significantly reduce your waste disposal costs. Using Tables 3.8 and 3.9 you can calculate the weightof waste you dispose of per person every year. If your bins are not full when collected you will need to take this into account. If your bins are cubic yard containers use 0.15 instead of 0.2 as the conversion factor.

zyxwv zyxwvut zy calculati~~ the ~ e i ~ofh you^ t waste per person

ofonversion umberof iume

Total waste

collections factor pa

=

/

C a l c u l ~ tyour i ~ ~waste staff

Benchmark 32

200

Highly confidential paper

on-confidential white paper

General, commercial

Shred in house (or use specialist contractor) and recycl

General, commercial

Segregate and recycle

zyxw Flatten and recycle

Cardboard

General, commercial

Glass bottles: wine, mineral water and mixers

General, commercial

~ l u m i n i u mand steel cans

GeneraI, cornmerciaI

Plastic vending cups

General, commercial

Collect and recycle

Disposable items: hand towels, napkins, paper plates, plastic dishes and bottles, sandwich wrap pings

General, commercial

General waste disposal

Toner cartridges

General, commercial

Return to supplier for recycling

uilding waste from reorganisations and refurbishment

Difficult

Re-use within building or donate to local group for recycling

Electrical waste eg obsolete computers, printers and associated parts

Difficult

Return to supplier for recycling or donate to local r e f u r b i ~ h m ~ n t organisation

Used cooking oil

~ifficult

Recycle

Food

Organic

Compost

Feminine hy g iene product s

CI inical

Disposal by specialist contractor

Fluorescent light tubes and bulbs (containing mercury)

Difficult

Store and recycle through specialist contractor

Fluorescent light tubes and bulbs (containing sodium)

Difficult

Disposal by specialist waste contractor

Chemical wastes from cleaning and building and grounds maintenance

Hazardous

R~sponsibilityof contractor undertaking work, ensure they dispose of as special waste

~ e g r e g a t eby colour and recycle egregate (steel

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Use this data to produce apie chart of your waste stream, comparewith Figure 3.2 and set targetsfor reduction in specific materials. Use mble 3.10 to ensure thatyou are maximising reduction and recycling opportunities.

The major waste management companies are responding positively to the pressures on industry to implement waste reduction andrecycling measures, and many are expanding their services to include recovery and recycling. Equally,several recycling companies are developingtheir services to include waste management. There is also agrowth in materials recovery facilities (MRFs) and waste-to-energy plants. An MRF is an operation which processesmixed wastes to recover materials for recycling. There are two main types, dirty or mixed waste MRFs and clean MRFs. Grundon’s Waste Management Park at Colnbrook sites adirty MRF. The plant can take general household and commercial waste and requirespre-sorting no of materials. However, these systems have been criticised for reducing the need for active public participation and for producing greater quantities of less desirable materials and achieving recycling rates of no more than 20 per cent. In source-separated or ‘clean’ MRFs the recycling rate and revenue received on materials is much higher. There are often higher collection charges for waste processed through MRFs. However, many local authorities are considering plans for MRFs and waste-toenergy plants in response to the Landfill Tax and the need to respond to the government’s recycling targets. There are considerable regional variations in the recycling facilities provided. It may be more difficult to find recycling contractors in rural areas but you should be able to substantially reduce your waste costs through reduction and re-use and focusing on only buying productsthat can be easily recycled in the local vicinity.

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Consider both specialist recycling companies and waste management companies. There may be benefits to your company of using one contractor for both services? Smaller specialist recycling companies often provide additional flexibility and are generally well placed to handle smaller organisations on a local basis. Whatever contractor you choose, ensure thatthey are equipped to deal with all of your waste requirements and cancollect at times to suit you.

34

markets. If the contractor is handling waste and recycling, is the revenue on paper off-set against the collection charges for waste? Are you paying for air?! Make sure you receive a breakdown of costs and any revenue you receive and get quotes from competing contractors. Make sure you take into account increases in landfill tax and price ~uctuationswithin the recycling market. Find out what happens to the material once it leaves your site. Is all material collected for recycling actually recycled? What happens to contaminated material? If you are a large organisation, go out to tender, preferably to a minimum of three companies. The market is highly competitive; ensure you are offered a competitive deal! Use the information collected in the waste stream analysis to give an indication of the potential volume of material. Combine the potential volume of recyclables from all offices in a large organisation. This often helps to ensure small offices are included in the collection round and larger volumes will attract a more competitive rate from contractors.

ns, make sure the terms for collection times and frequencies, ~ ~ u i p m etype n t and costs agreed are written into a contract. State the time period for which these terms apply. Stipulate how you wish to receive regular reports on waste volumes and recycling performance and make provisions (with financial benefits in your favour) for reductions in your waste volumes when your minimisation programme is a huge success! Ensure that the people responsible for en~ronmental reporting in your company are involved in tender meetings. See Case Study 4.5

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Make sure the contractor is working in line with your own environmental policy. Check their environmental policy and report and ensure they have a clean safety and environment record over the past five years. Are they working towards a n environmental management system such a s IS0 14001? Do they have a commitment to maximise recycling and reduce the volume of material sent to landfil~?If they are a landfill operator, do they take part in the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme and are they investing to improve their environmental performance?

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Less reputable companies will initially offer a low collection charge or even revenue, ~articularlyon white office paper, in order to secure your business, only to increase the charges once the scheme is in operation. Ensure you agree terms in ~ r i t i n g , preferably with a formal contract. 35

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There are genuine~uctuationsin the paper marketandtherefore it is difficult to guaranteerevenue. Use a fixed price contract or monitorprices as quoted in the trade press suchas ~ a t ~ ~ i a l S e ~ y ~ as a guide. ~~~~

e effectively to avoid ont tam in at ion. Make it clear what materi-

als can and cannot be recycled, for example white paper is in, white paper envelopes with plastic windows are out? Agree an acceptable level of contamination with the contractor, otherwise you may find th your charges are suddenly increased or your waste is not collected! Make sure your waste/rec~clables are sent ~ll/recyclin~. Check the final destination of your waste. heck that they are charging you

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uction is at the top of the waste hierarchy and is the most environ~entally and comme~cia~ly beneficial option. ~ e m e m ~ that e r all waste is originally as an asset and the true cost of waste includes the value of the products Waste minimisationshouldthereforebe g. Always follow the waste hierarchy; r ~roducing wastein the first place, then re-use and recycle what you haveleft. *

re a number of areas of potential waste reduction in the office, the most being paper. Paper is considered here, but theprinciple of reduction, re-use cling can be applied to almost all office wastes.

Smaller offices can re-use paper in-house very effectively. For example, paper that has only been used on one side can be fed back through the printer or fax machine. Obsolete letterhead paper can be turned into scrap pads. Make double-siding easy and make it the norm in your office. Set printers and photocopiers to double-side as default. Staff will then have to disable this mechanism to print or copy single-sided. An explanatory poster above the copier will help. Double-sided printing and copying also saves money on paper, postage and storage re~uirements. Specify the use of print room facilities for high volume copying. This enables greater control over large runs and minimises wastage. Copy counters can calculate charges to different cost centres and raise awareness of wastage. The print room’s policy should be to print double-sided unless otherwise specified. If printing or marketing work is contracted out, build policies to minimise wastage and double-side unless otherwise specified into the contract.

Make the use of email and electronic fax facilities standard in computer training. Ensure training for presentation packages such as ‘PowerPoint’ is available to those who need it. Electronic diaries and voice mail are becoming increasingly common and can considerably reduce paper consumption whilst improving efficiency. Avoid wasteful header sheets for routine faxes; use fax tabs where possible. Make sure machines are not set to print out a transmission report for every fax. Discourage the printing of hard copies or documents, unless absolutely necessary. Storing documents electronically, password protected, also removes some of the problems around secure storage of confidential documents. A specific area for potential reduction in local authorities is to reduce circulation of Committee Papers. Discuss circulation with members and officers to identify areas of reduction. Members are often grateful to have more targeted information to read! Decisions made at the design stage can significantly reduce paper usage. Consider the size of the print used, page layout and the weight of paper. This is partic~larly important in the case of documents with a large circulation such a s your annual report or corporate brochure. Control the number of copies printed and use electronic communication where possible to view drafts and revisions. Resist the temptation to over-order marketing materials or designing them to be robust, ~ a r t i c ~ l a rifl ythe information is likely to date quickly.

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Background

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Wilkin and Sons of Tiptree are an internationally renowned jam and marmalade manufacturer with 180 staff. They have 70 product lines including a new organic range and produce 100,000 jars of product per day.

Action

The company has always been concerned for the environment and has taken considerable steps to address water and energy consumption, reduce waste and recycle materials. The company adopted a coordinated approach to waste minimisation starting with a comprehensive scoping audit carried out by the Environment Agency. As a result of this, an in-house waste and energy team was established and a range of waste minimisation and management improvement measures have been implemented. Senior level commitment has been central to the success of Wilkin and Sons’ improvements, accompanied by keen staff and good communication of the benefits of good practice both internally and with other local businesses.

Results Savings to date include:

50 tonnes reduction in waste to landfill saving €2500 per year. Over 250 tonnes of waste recycled including 80 tonnes of cardboard, 40 tonnes of glass and 25 tonnes of metal.

0t her achievements: Office paper and plastic cup recycling schemes set up (free of charge). Segregation of waste at source to ensure maximum recycling rates. Raw materials and cleaning/maintenance chemicals purchased in returnable containers. And every company has its own unique areas for potential savings..

108 tonnes of process fruit waste for composting and animal feed. 177,000 litres of liquor used to cook oranges re-used, saving €4000!

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Wilkin andsons are actively involved in the Essex and Colchester waste minimisation clubs and have close ties with the Environment Agency.

24 few years ago what thoughts w e had on waste minimisation were tinged with sce~ticism.Since then we have become converts. ~ a s t e mini~ isationdoes incur costs, certain/^ as w ~ as / / r e ~ u i r i n ga good measure of c o ~ m i t m e n tand consensus, but these are more than r e ~ a r ~~e o ~only . t are there direct f~nanc~al benefits for the ~ o ~ ~ a ~ y , but I am convjnced there are also intangib/e, ~s y c h o / o g i c abenef~ts / that s ~ r i n gfrom the ~ n o w / e d g e that w e are dojng something which also be~ efitsthe wider community. ’ Peter Wilkin, C h a i r ~ a nof Wilkin and Sons Ltd Barclays produces a quarterly video that provides its staff with an update on the business worldwide. Some 10,000 videos are distributed annually. A video reuse scheme was introduced for the December 1999 edition. A return address is printed on the video sleeve; the returned videos are then collected by the reproduction company which erases the old edition and records the new. A green dot is applied as evidence of re-use as it is considered feasible to re-use each video three times. Avoid the use of A3 flip charts in meeting rooms where possible. Use white boards and recorders where available. Use computer-based presentation packages whereby information can be projected directly from a PC screen, avoiding the need for nonrecyclable acetate slides. Provide paper recycling bins for scrap paper and circulate minutes by email. Hold a stationery amnesty to retrieve all those stray pens, pencils, etc. Office moves can be seen as an opportunity to order new stationery. Make sure departments take their stationery with them? For example, AEA Technology Environment recovered over €62,000 in unused stationery and computer equipment, and saved some €8,000 in not having to order new items, following a recent office ’Spring Clean’ initiative. The idea to encourage staff to return unused stationery and computer equipment to stationery cupboards for reuse was raised by an employee. A project manager was appointed to take the initiative forward. Posters and a newsletter were produced to highlight the benefits, the role employees could play, and the items they could consider for reuse. As a result, over 13,000items of stationery and in excess of 150 items of computer equipment were recovered.

zyxwv 39

community and operated by Bromley Council. The facilities comprise meeting rooms and halls with a total capacity of 600 people. The hallsareused by a wide range ofcommunitygroups including: playgroups, fitness classes, disability groups, social functions, weddings and fundraisers. The halls have about 155,000 visitors a year.

alls recycle around 1 tonne of glass per month with Cleanaway and have distributed information material on recycling throughout the premises. Aluminium cans are collected by theOakfield Recycling Project. Toner cartridges and office paper are recycled. The management is currently developing environmental recommen~ations to be distributed tocaterers on how they can minim~s their environmental impact through such measures as the use of cutlery an porcelain plates rather than disposable materials. The Halls are also looking to purchase environmentallysensitive cleaningand sanitary products in the upcoming financial year.

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enting relatively simple recycling schemes and involving all staff, the Crofton Halls can expect to see sizeable savings on a yearly basis. These will be increased by ongoing environmental i ~ p r o v e m e n t sandan educational approach towards engaging visitors, caterers and suppliers alike to follow by their example.

* *

15 tonnes of glass diverted from landfill per annum. El 00 of disposal costs saved per annum.

For waste reduction initiatives in cleaning and catering see C ~ f f ~4, ~~ eurr c ~ f f s i ~

40

project created and managed by Wastebust network of waste minimisation clubs helping small businesses t and increase efficiency through improved waste manageme materials. Larger organisations are encouraged to act as mentors, good practice case studies and support to smaller companie chain. Waste Alert is unique in being the first waste minim specifically on small businesses and waste exchange and to r The network covers the boroughs of Bromley and Haringey, Islington and Harrow. This network provides sig exchange information and best practice and is supported by a large ne contacts and resources. ~ a s t e b u s t e r sact as facilitators to encoura practice and disseminate the benefits of waste minimisati ing the wheel in each new area. The network is the result of buil partnerships with a range of organisations including local a Environment Agency, Thames Water, Shanks ~ a s t Sol e mental and the corporate sector including Glaxo Wellcome.

Club members receive ongoing support and advice for waste minim tives, which are tailored to their individual needs. Services offer free consultancy visit and information packs, the ~ a s t Exchang e helpline service, a quarterly newsletter, regular free events, opportu network with other local businesses, updates about important ~hanges lation and recycling discounts. Alert South Thames was the first club in the network was launched in May 1998. In the first year, m e m ~ e r s recycled 200 tonnes of waste and saved over ~ ~ 0 , 0 0an 0 ,average member. The ~ a s t Exchange e service is one of the most popular a Club. Members' exchanges have included 700 bike frames Botswana and South Africa, 1000 CDs from London music library were sent to Aylesbury Recycling (part of the Centre in Lambeth) who are distributing them free to local sch thing from office furniture, textile off-cuts, computers, books a Transit vans of clothing were sent to KOSOVO, sawdust has been exchanged! Other materials ~

4'

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wrap used to deliver computers t o ~ a s t e b u s t e r soffice, made great astronaut costumes for a local school! Scrap stores are a useful outlet for clean cornmerciai waste such as paper and card, which would otherwise be consigned to landfill. Scrap stores areused by schools, playgroups, theatre groups and artists and give a second usefullife to just about any materials.

* * *

3 Waste Alert Clubs across London. 270 business m e ~ b e r s .

S of waste diverted from landfill. ~ 2 ~ 3 , 0 0savings 0 in waste disposal and purchasing costs for mem~ers.

Many staff are not confident about storing correspondence and emails on their computer systemand prefer to print them out for filing. Ensure staff are fully trained in electronic communication and storage and amend procedures where necessary to avoid un~ecessaryprinting, circulation and storage of documents. Printers and photocopiers are often accused of having a mind of their own! Ensure all staff are trained to operate printers and copiers and put posters above to explain double-siding and other specific o~erations.Arrange a regular maintenanc~ programme to reduce paper jams.

The concept is simple, one man’s wasteis another man’sgold. First invented in the UK andmadefamous by the salvage and recycling operations of World War 11, materials and waste exchanges offer a vital link between business and local communities and are enjoying a resurgence in the UK. Waste exchanges provide a ‘matching’ service, a kind of dating agency for waste! For example: 679 unwanted sound effect CDs fromLondon Weekend Television’s music library were given to the Aylesbury

Reclign design and create fine hand-made furniture and artefacts. All of their unique pieces are crafted from reclaimed timber that gives the items their own history. Reclign was established in 1997 by John Turner and became a member of Waste Alert South Thames in March of this year. Some of the work completed by John has been made from wood that was retrieved from the old veranda at the ‘Ham Polo Club’ in Richmond, as well as the site of the new ‘Vinopolis - City of Wine’ attraction in Southwark. Reclign also stocks pieces by other artists who are working in reclaimed materials, including cards, wrought iron beds, stained glass and ceramics.

Reclign has used the Waste Alert monthly Waste Exchange listing on several occasions and has made a number of beneficial contacts through the Waste Alert club network in London. The London Wood Bank (LWB), another Waste Alert South Thames member, reclaims wood from various construction sites around London. The LW6 supplied Reclign with a van of re-usable wood and Reclign now sells recycled greeting cards supplied by the LWB. Furthermore, LWB now display Reclign’s work at trade events, forming a valuable partnership between two small businesses. Reclign benefited from another exchange, this time from Waste Alert Bromley and Bexley when Langley Park School for Girls renovated their science laboratories. As the labs were demolished, Reclign picked up three vanloads of high quality wood, including some mahogany. As a result of this exchange, 2 tonnes of waste were diverted from ~andfi~l. Waste Alert has also put Reclign in touch with other members of Waste Alert; Blue ~ o u n t a i nCafe in Forest Hill now display Reclign’s work and Fortress Antiques in Dulwich are currently planning to work with Reclign for an exhibition. Reclign’s partnership with Waste Alert has received publicity in ~ a ~ e ~ j~a el sc y ~~ el je ~~ /~ ayNational , trade magazine, as well as in the local press. This promotion has led to offers of waste timber and display space in other out lets.

zyxwvuts 43

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ractice example prov s that there are useful alternatives to landfillold wood. it also hows that networking, made possible through Alert, can have positive impacts on the local business community by increasing communication and trade between SMEs.

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in p u r c h ~ s i ncosts ~ saved. in extra sales generated. than 3 tonnes of wood diverted from landfi~l.

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~ / e r t e ~ i t o ~the i s estrong s ethics/ va/ues I b ~ / i e v e in and are n ~ a t i o nof ~ e c l i g nI. get e x ~ r e ~ eexcited /y by heir e n t h u s i a § ~ o v e ~ ~ h eby/ th ~ e ~ /p t h ~ y ' vg~ven ~ ~ n d d tor^, h ~against the o ~ ~that s ,t ~ are ~ doin y ryone in the or/^ § ~ o u / d ~

Day Centre, which runs a re-use andrecycling facility. The CDs have been ~istributed free to local schools. It is estimated that these specialised CDs will save the eventual 700 in purchasing costs. approximately 400 books cleared from Arcturus ~ublishingin London ge were 're-housed' t the ~ o l u n t a r yDay Centre in Forest Hill, which put ther Christmas packa S for underprivileged families. This diverted one-third of a tonne of waste from landfill and saved the Care CentreE3150 in purchasing costs. Waste exchange is the ideal waste management optionfor bulky wastes suchas furniture and IT e ~ u i p ~ ewhere nt the savings through both disposal costs and purcha~ing costsfor the recipient can be substantial.In addition, waste e~changes can often re-use things that cannot berecycled.

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~ o ~ l o w i nyour g efforts to reduce and re-use, recycle as much of your remaining waste as possible. On average 60-70 per cent of office waste is recyclable. Recycling is not without its own environmental impact; however, it generally has clear e n v i r o ~ ~ e n tbenefits al over disposal to landfill. Recycling waste materials provides a valuable supply of recyclate for product ~anufacturersand diverts waste from land~ll.Using more recycled materials in everyday products means that less virgin raw materials need to be extracted and in turn more waste is diverted from ~ a n d f i or ~ l incineration. Buying recycled products also stimulates the recycling market. See ~ h u ~ 4, ~ ~e r~ r c ~ u s ~ ~ ~

44

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e in Harrow has 2000 employees. It manufactures a wi film materials for the printing and publishing industry and for ph and photo processing companies across Europe, Africa and the M is the only Kodak manufacturer of these products in the UK.

rted their recycling practices over 30 years ago with th of silver from manufacturing processes. This economic prudence is olated into other waste management areas and this material recycling will help Kodak reach its goal of world-class manufacturer of photographic products. Kodak (Harrow) gained IS0 14001 status in 199 numerous steps have been taken to increase re-use and recycling and improve the environmental ~erformanceof the whole site. In 1999:

00 gallons of oil were collected and recycled. 156 tonnes of po~ythenewas collected and re-used to make low gra plastic materials such as rubbish bags. 233 tonnes of excess molten polythene was collected into trou~hs fied into polythene logs. These were then sold on to make screwdri Around 2500 tonnes of waste coated pap r was sold to Fibre Fu to make fuel briquettes. 222 tonnes of cardboard was collected and returned to the s pulp it for re-use. Chemical containers (metal and plastic) were returned to supplier^ for washing and re-use. $300was donated to the ~ h i l d r e n ’ sWard of ~ o r t h w i c kPark ~ o s p i t aas~ a resuIt of toner cart ridge remanufac t uring. Office furniture was donated to schools and charities and computers were either re-used or recycled.

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0

0 0

The recycling rate of all materials at Kodak (Harrow) increased from cent at the start of 1999 to 80 per cent by the end of the year. Material going to landfill was reduced by 60 per cent in 1999. Annual cost saving from re-use and recycling practices is E40,000 per year.

Kodak’s recycling target has now been raised to 85 per cent in 2 0 0 ~ . 45

Recycling contractors will need to know the anticipated volumeof waste you wish to recycle in order to assessfeasibility of collection. It is not environmentally sound to make a long journeyto collect half a sack of paper!

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rably depending on the area of the country, Before you collect materials for recycling, find a local contractor who can meet your requirements cost effectively. Larger organisations may benefit from setting up a national contract to ver all offices. See select in^ Waste ~ a n a ~ e ~ e ~ t ~ R e c y c l If you work in a smaller office, or waste volumes are low, Contractors, page 34 contact your local aut~orityRecycling Officer, who should know what services are available for different materials in your area. Collection charges and/or potential revenue are linked to volume. For example, a contractor may charge to collect a small quantity of paper (especially if it is mixed and of poor quality). However, you may be able to negotiate payment for highquality white paper if the volume is sufficient. Note that the price can beaffected by fluctuations in the paper market. If storage is limited, it may be impractical to store material for several weeks to reach the minimum volume required by the contractor. Ensure that safety and fire risks are fully considered when assessing suitable storage areas.

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Use the figures for total waste generation (page 31) to establish your potential recycling rate. On average, 60-70 per cent of office waste is recyclable.

bk

Annual waste recycled (kg)

3 .1 1 Recyclin~ rate

Total annual waste disposal (kg)

ecycling rate (W

Compare your recycling rates with industry averages.See C~apter9,~nviron~ental report in^

46

to setting up a contract. For example: most toner cartridges are recyclable, but not all; some contractors demand segregated materials, others will accept mixed for a charge.

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It has to be easy for staff to recycle, otherwise it will not happen? Staff need to know what can and cannot go in colle on bins to avoid contamination. Dispel the e rC o ~ ~ u n i c a t i o n myths! See c ~ a ~ t 7,

Environmental issues

Paper, which accounts for over a third of our waste, is often still disposed of in landfill sites or by incineration. Recycling paper has many environmental benefits and has a high profile: 8

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zyxwvutsrqpon ~igh-qualityrecycled paper can be made without re-bleaching, if it is correctly sorted. Recycling paper helps to reduce the pressure on biodiversity resulting from intensive forestry. The paper industry plants more trees than it chops down, but natural habitats are often destroyed to make way for intensive tree farming. Recycling paper is more energy-efficient than making virgin paper from wood. Paper - a biodegradable resource - is diverted from landfill; this helps reduce methane emissions.

For more detail on the environmental issues associated with paper. See C ~ a ~4,t e ~ ~u~c~asin~

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The paper market is renowned for fluctuations. This has affected the feasibility of some recycling services in the past and has led to increased costs for collection of mixed paper. The construction of two de-inking plants in the UK at Aylesford (SCA) and Kemsley (UKPaper) has successfully increased the demand for paper collected for recycling; however, paper recycling rarely raises the revenue it did in the past, and in some cases you will have to pay for collection. In spite of the fluctuations in the paper market, paper recycling schemes are still cost effective because they reduce waste to landfill and therefore waste disposal costs. There are now many more opportunities for sourcing high-quality recycled business papers; for example, UK Paper produces the high-quality ‘Evolve Business’ 47

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paper from the Kernsley plant which provides an excellent opportunity for all offices to close the recycling loop. See C ~ ~ ~4, t~e r~ r c ~ ~ s i ~ ~ ~

-quality office paper and computer paper can be recycled very efficiently to more office papers and tissue paper, Mixed waste paper and the lower grades re generally used for low-grade paper products and packaging material. There is an expansion of recycling schemes for mixed paper, which helps reduce some of the tra~itionalproblems of contamination. Mixed paper schemes minimise the total volume of material sent to landfill. However, separation of white paper where volume is sufficient will give a higher revenue. When considering the viability of paper recycling schemes, consider thegeneric points made earlier in the chapter and thespecific points below.

~ollection charges and/or potential revenue are linked to volume and quality of material. ~ i x i n gwhite paper with cardboard and newspaperswill probably ensure that the paper merchant leaves your load behind? Some merchants will collect mixed coloured and whitepaper, which will mean less effort at your end. However, it is financially and environmentally preferable to separate white office paper from mixed, since it can be used to make high-quality office paper. Mixed paper can usually only be used to makelow grades of paper, Cardboard, newspapers, brochures and magazines are potentially recyclable, but hese have a low market value, so paper m e r c h a ~ t swill often make a charge collect to them. Charges varyconsider~bly and it is often easier to find a willing contractor if they are also collecting your higher-grade waste. A more practical alternative for cardboard is to ensure that suppliersretrieve packaging materjals when they deliver. atile: prices paid for recycled paper do fluctuate, This cycling are not constant. Revenue for paper is generally based on quantities of half a tonne upwards. For smaller quantities, you are ly to receive revenue, but should be able to have segregated white office paper collected for a nominal charge. Small organisationsmay be able to find other change opportunities for used paper. If the ont tractor chosen for paper recycling operates to good levels of security, it should be possible to reduce the volume of material sent for confidential shredding.

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~ b v i o u s l ysome material is ly sensitive, but there is often room for more discrimination, Staff must re that there is a cost to the company. Are internal memos really confidential? If the remaining mate ria^ is highly sensitive, be e x t r e ~ e l y vigilant regarding the level of security provided by the contractor. It m cost effective to combine security waste with non-confidential paper and therefore find a contractor to handle both. Establish how charges are calculated: per collection of a minimum volume or per sack. Follow these guidelines:

Ensure confidential waste bins are clearly labelled and locked. Security risks can be of concern in-house as well as externally. Ensure the contractor provides tagged security sacks and certificates of destruction. Verify the level of security provided by the contractor. They must have a s y s t e ~ of security clearance for waste handlers and their security procedure must extend to the transit of the ~ a t e r i a l sVehicles . should be kept locked and tr time minirnised. subcontractors: subc Give clear instructions to the contractor reg from yourselves. ing should not be allowed without cle monitoring of the contractor’s p~rformanceis important. Clarify: the cost per tonne of security shredding, minimum ~uantitiesfor collection and the amount of material to be shredded. Visit the contractor‘s site to check the security of their premises and operations.

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It has to be easy for staff to recycle paper, otherwise it will not happen. However, you must create a balance between having enough containers (so that staff do not have to go far to use them) and having too many (making it too easy encourages contamination and many bins will cost more to e ~ p t y ~Most ) . recycling companies can provide you with suitable containers in a wide range of colours and sizes. They can even be printed with your company logo. *

0

Use medium-si~edbins (holding about 10 kg of paper) distribute the office, allowing one container per 7-10 staff. This means that staff need to think before they throw paper away, but don’t have to do a route march to reach the bins! Put extra bins in key areas such as copier and print rooms. Add individual desktop trays to supplement the above scheme. Ma responsible for empty in^ their own desktop trays into the larger bins. desktop trays from your recycling contractor or use the lids from paper boxes. The lids of Evolve Business recycled paper produced by UK Paper are for use a s paper trays. As an alternative, ma all individual bins paper only and have a centr~lisedbin for all other general waste (one per office or six people). This will reduce costs as cleaners will only have to empty the single centralised bin instead of many smaller bins and will make people think about the paper they discard.

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ousing Association is one of the UK's largest housing associations with over 14,000 units. They havefour offices in Bromley andthe majority of their housing stock is concentrated in the borough.

Fo~lowingan ETBPP Helpline visit, the Broomleigh Housing Association now recycles office paper at its three Bromley offices. They are also looking at environmental management systemsthrough a project withthe Housing Foundation. They have a committee dedicated to environmental issues within the or~anisationand are aiming for certification in environmental management. Broomleigh has also incorporated environmental criteria into the development of housing stock. They have worked with Architype Architects (members of Waste Alert South Thames) to develop self-build housing that focuses on energy efficiency and the use of recycled materials.

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such as paper recycling and the monitoring of energy usage are expected to save Broomleigh over 100 tonnes of waste per year and nearly E4000 in disposal costs. With further improvements the organisation can expect to save significantly more whilst continuing to strengthen their environ~ental profile. 0 0

100 tonnes of paper waste saved per annum. E4000 saved in disposal costs per annum.

:leaning contractors play an important role in the success of recycling schemes and they should be involved in the planning stage. It is very frustrating, if you have 3een collecting paper for recycling, to find that your cleaning staff have thrown it out? One of Wastebusters' clients thought they had been recycling for three years, when in fact the cleaning staff had been putting the green bags in the skip? There need not be any additional work for the cleaners as the amountof waste you are discarding will be identical - well, hopefully less! If you have problems with your 50

cleaning contractor, use the re-negotiation of their contract as an ideal time to raise the issue. For example: a change of cleaning contractor at Lehmans, to Lancaster Cleaning, has had a significant impact on the success of the paper recycling scheme. Lancasters were enthusiastic and also recognised the opportunity to improve waste handling arrangements by the introduction of a more efficient recycling scheme. They monitored the scheme daily and allocated a specific member of staff to managing the recycling. Cleaning staff need to know what the arrangements are and what i s expected from them. Follow these guidelines:

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Collection of recyclables needs to be coordinated with the cleaning schedule. The cleaners will need to retrieve the recycling sacks to meet collection times. Establish contact points for cleaners and recycling contractors to handle any problems on a day-to-day basis. Find out if there is an additional charge for handling recycling schemes. Most cleaning companies appreciate that they need to be receptive to recycling. After all, they are not handling any extra waste. Find a short-term storage area for recyclables prior to collection. Make sure that the cleaners retrieve and replace recycling sacks when the bins are full. Hold regular feedback sessions with cleaners to resolve issues before they become problems.

Many companies introduce a dual-bin system, whereby a bin for paper recycling is placed under each desk alongside the general waste bin. This system ob~iously encourages staff to recycle, but it also encourages contamination. A frequent problem is that everything goes into the paper recycling bin including plastic cups, sandwich w r a p ~ e r s etc. , If paper recycling schemes are heavily contaminated, paper merchants will not collect or will charge for collection. This is where most schemes fail. ~ a n i l l a envelopes, newspaper and anything with a lot of glue or a plastic laminated finish should be avoided. Check with your contractor what they will not take. Make it clear to staff what can and cannot be recycled. Reduce the use of laminates in your publicity material.

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zy zyxw zy zyx and type of material Find a market for the

t/ Investigate collection

arrangements u" Consider storage restraints d Decide on the method of

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The British Hospitality Association (BHA) is the National Trade Association for the hotel, restaurant and catering industry. It has been the industry's principal driving force to lobby government since it was formed over 90 years ago. The 2 ~ , 0 0 0hotels, r e s t ~ u r a n t sand BritishHospitalityAssociationrepresents contract caterers. As well as promoting the benefits of environmental action to members, the BHA in 1999 started to devise an environmental strategy for implementation at the Head Office in London.

After a consultation visit from Waste Alert Camden (who helped the BHA to id en ti^ the key areas of the environmental impact of their activities) anine-point action plan was drawn up which included the subject of waste management. It was decided that facilities should be provided for the recycling of paper (including magazines, glossybrochures, etc); glass;cardboard and toner pare office was set aside as a dedicated recycling area. Containers for the sorting of waste and unused furniture was removed by the ycling. It was decided that waste paper should be collected by cycling, based in North London, for a small fee. Ton e and s u ~ s e ~ u e n tcollected ly for recycling by the stationery free of charge. Glass is recycled at a local bottle bank.

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ing initiatives are proving to be very popular with the ver 30 bags of waste paper have been collected so far - approximately 1.5 tonnes of waste. The small cost of removal should be offset by savings made by entation of other areas of the action plan; for example, using a lighter recycledpaperforletterheadpaper and an energy management iatives have been noticed and imp~emented by other companies that orks with; for example, toner recycling is now run as a joint initiative with the Periodical Publishers ~ssociation(based in the same building)" They will be working together again in 2000 to implement a recycling scheme for fluorescent tubes.

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Your storage restraints will determine the frequency of collection required. For example, in Central London, storage is generally very tight, since space costs money! The fire risk also needs to be considered when assessing suitable storage areas. If you have storage space, you may be able to store half a tonne of paper and therefore receive revenue. Work with neighbouring businesses to combine collections or storage facilities. The key to the successful introduction of recycling progra~mesis effective comrnunication. Without the commitment of individuals, the programme will never be successful and achieve the potential cost savings identified. See Chapter 7, ~ o ~ m u n i c ~ t ifor o neffective , launch programmes.

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The UK currentl~landfills around 27 mi~liontonnes of mu~icipalwaste each year. Approximately 60 per cent of this is biodegradable - waste that is capable of undergoing anaerobic or aerobic decomposition, such as food and garden waste, paper and paperboard. The environmental and economic impact of using landfill sites is discussed under Waste Disposal in this chapter. The i ~ p o r t a n c eof composting has been highlighted in the Waste Strategy as essential to meeting the proposed targets set in the recently adopted EC Landfill Directive. These targets have strong implications for local authorities and the public but will also affect the way businesses handle their organic waste. By 2020, reduce biodegradable municipal waste landfilled to 35 per cent of the total produced in 1995. Intermediate targets of 75 per cent by 2010 and 50 per cent by 2013 are also imposed. For further details on grounds maintenance and green waste, see Chapter 4 ~urchasing.

In the past, it has been possible to dispose of food waste (from company restaurants, for example) as pig swill. However, food hygiene regulations have been tightened up 53

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and it now has to be sterilised first, which is generally prohibitively expensive. However, Crisis, the nationalcharity for single homeless people, have set upCrisis Fareshare. They will collect quality surplus fresh food and redistribute to hostelsand day centres providing mealstohomelesspeople inLondon,Southampton, Birrningharn,South Yorkshire, Huddersfield and anc chest er. They have strict controls over food handling and ensure thatall sites are adhering to thefood hygiene regulations and ensure correctfood storage and preparation atall times. They ask that donated food is of good quality and within its use by date. It needs to be stored and prepared according to current legislation. If it is preprepared?t needs to be kept chilled and covered.

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If your food waste is unsuitable, or thisfacility is not available in your area, consider introducing a cornposting system,to copewith both food and, if your company has its own grounds, garden waste. Composting is the biological decomposition of organic waste under controlled conditions. There are three main methods of composting: w o r ~ e r i e s traditional , composting and large-scale composting.

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~orrn~ri~s A wormery uses tiger worms todigest waste and can reduce its contents by as much as 80 per cent. They need more attention than the aerobic system (compost heap). It can be kept indoors or outdoors and is suited to small volumes of material. A 5 0 5 0 split between garden and food waste is preferable. Wormeries produce good

quality compost and liquid fertiliser. The compost produced is richer than that produced by traditional methods and can be used to refine compost from traditional heaps. Wormeries are ideal for use by smaller offices in rural locations. Shot in the Dark, an environmental media company in West Yorkshire, has an innovative recycling scheme. Cardboard boxes and packing materials are re-used where possible and if not re-usable are sent to alocal community farm where they are shredded and usedfor animal bedding.This is then put into a wormery where it is decomposed and then sold as compost!

"Raditional composting is suited to a large volume of material and can copewith a higher garden waste content than a wormery can, since compost heaps generate enough heat tokill weed seeds.They must be outdoors with good drainage to cope with run-off. Traditional compost heaps do not break waste down as finely a s wormeries. An additional outlet may be needed for excess compost: local schools, nurseries, allotment growers and your own staff may be grateful recipients? Your local council may be a good source of information.

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Where the volume of compost is sufficient, it may be more practical to take organic waste to a composting plant. Some local authorities have developed cornposting facilities for household waste. However, there is normally a charge for this, so it is only viable if there is a substantial volumeof material. 54

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The gardens consist of 16 acres of park with a Victorian conservatory that is used for private functions. The gardens also include the CUE (Centre for ~nderstandingthe Environment) which is an ecologically designed building surrounded by ponds and a bed of reeds with a grass roof. The Museum and Gardens have over 250,000 visitors a year.

Since October 1997 the gardens have introduced a composting scheme for all green waste. This includes grass cuttings, leaves and wood trimmings. Material is processed through a chipper and a substance called ‘garota’ added to speed up the composting process. The gardens are keen to publicise the scheme to visitors and the general public to raise environmental awareness and demonstrate good practice.

ther wastes The remaining wastes are litter, mixed metals, and glass from functions in the Conservatory. Cleanaway provide 2 x 1 100 litre Eurobins for litter. The gardens are also intending to introduce a glass recycling scheme through Cleanaway, which is cheaper than the charges for general waste. A small quantity of mixed metal is produced annually which is currently now taken, free of charge, to a scrap dealer to be recycled. Plants are grown by the gardens and plant pots are re-used. Compost no longer needs to be purchased from an external supplier.

e has been very successful and has reduced the demand for skips from 50 per annum to 10. Charges were E l 20 per skip, giving cost savings of E4800 per annum. In addition, the gardens are no longer buying in compost this was costing E68 per tonne and the quality produced by the gardens is better. The gardens estimate that the scheme is saving E35 per cubic metre of compost produced. The estimated annual savings are over E l 0,000, with approximately 20 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill. In total, by minimising waste in its gardens, the Horniman expects to save over E l 2,000 per annum.

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This will determine the most suitable composting option. Wormeries are not capable of handling large volumes of waste, unlike traditional compost heaps. Wormeries cope better with a 5 0 5 0 split between garden and kitchen waste. If the volume of garden wasteis greater thankitchen waste, then atraditional compost heapis more suitable. ollection systems lf you introduce an in-house system,you can easily retrieve materials from your

restaurant and grounds. However, if the volume is substa~tial,you will need to arrange transportationof the material to the nearest site. The assessment of volume will determine financial viability. In addition to composting it is important to buy compost made from organic waste or to use your compost made on site and in so doing close the recycling loop. For example, DorsetCountyCouncil hasa policy to compost all green waste.They use the local cornposting plant, Eco-Composting at Christchurch, to compost their green waste and buy the compost back for use in their grounds maintenance.See ~ ~ o u n ~ s ~ Q i n ~ ~ n inc ~e ~ Q4, ~~ u t~ ec ~~ u s ~ n ~

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Schools have good potential to introduce traditional composting and wormeries as part of the curriculum as well as encouraging waste reduction. omp posting schemes, particularly wormeries,arepopular with children, and can belinked to en~ronmental education through the Science Curriculum. Henry ~oubledayResearch soc cia ti on (HDRA) is anationalorganicgardening organisation and aims to encourage compostinginhouseholds,schoolsand local a~thorities.They areanexcellent source of advice and provide leaflets on cornposting as well as inform~tion on the wide range of cornposters on the market. They work with a number of local authoritiestohelpthemdevelopcomposting programmes. 56

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HDRA are also very active with schools and run a number of activities including the Schools Recycling Week. Recycling and composting can be linked to at least seven curriculum subjects: science, mathematics, English, art, design and technology, geo~raphy,and history. See C ~ ~lo,~Contacts ~ t and ~ r~ ~ s o ~ r c ~ s

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Do not include meat and fish in compost material: they attract vermin. Keep wormeries out of direct sunlight to prevent destruction of the ~ o r m s . Do not put grass in any quantity into wormeries: it heats up and gives off ammonia, which will kill worms. Do not put weeds with seeds into a wormery: the wormery does not produce enough heat to break down the seeds, which will germinate when the compost is used. Paditional heaps tend to need more looking after than wormeries. Ensure sufficient manpower is available.

The raw ma~erialsused to make glass are not expensive or rare, but silica (sand) is extensively quarried and causes unsightly damage to the landscape. Glass is also relatively heavy and bulky, constituti~ga large percentage of waste by weight. Glass can be recycled very efficiently, with an energy saving of 25 per cent. One tonne of recycled glass saves 30 gallons of oil. The glass industry is committed to achieving a 58 per cent recycling rate by 2000.

The companies that are most likely to have glass for recycling are those with staff restaurants and client function rooms.

Assess current usage to find out the potential volume for recycling. Note that contractors often need glass to be separated by colour. Glass can often be retrieved directly by the catering contractors when trays are cleared from the staff restaurant and hospitality suites cleared after functions. Glass is often already separated from general waste for health and safety reasons.

Joanna's Restaurant joined Waste Alert in June 1999 and was interested in reducing the amount of glass sent to landfill.

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lert put Joanna's in touch with Cleanaway, who run the g p r o ~ r ~ mJoanna's ~e, shares a glass bottle recycling depot with restaurant Tamag Thai, saving 13 tonnes of glass waste from l a n ~ f i land l over El 00 in disposal costs. Joanna's will also be looking to minimise cardboard waste and have reduced their waste by using sugar pots and salt and peppershakers, rather than using disposable sachets.

es of waste diverted from landfill.

00 in disposal cost saved per annum.

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Some local authorities offer glass collections and there are a number of organisations throughout the country offering this service. For smaller organisations, and where volume is low, it will be difficult to find a contractor to collect the glass: you can take small amounts to thelocal bottle bank. An alternative to using bottled water is to introduce an in-house waterpurification system, which means that bottles can be re-used. See ~ ~ u ~4, t~ e~r r c ~ u s i ~

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Plastics use oil for production, which is a finite raw material and in most cases does not biodegrade.

Single-walled polystyrene (that is, plastic) cups can easily be recycled. Following collection, the polyst~eneis formed into pellets. The material is used for a variety of non-food applications, including video cassettes, office equipment and in~ustrial reels. There are at least three different types of vending cup on the market, but colle~tion systems are only established for one, single walled plastic, so you must i~entifythe type you are using: Facilities for recycling waxed paper cups are not currently available. The wax coating requires chemicals to break it down for recycling, which rather defeats the object? Expanded polystyrene cups are theoretical~yrecyclable, but collection facilities are not widely available.

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Facilities to recycle single-walled polystyrene cups are widely available.

Using mugs is environmentally and economically preferable. However, this can be difficult for hygiene reasons. The replacement of vending cups with mugs is usually reliant on staff having (and using) washing-up facilities. This is generally more practical in smaller offices. You could issue staff with their own mugs overprinted with your c o ~ p a n ylogo and a message; this provides a good opportunity to promote an envi~onmental message. Some vending machines have sensors that enable them to detect that there is a mug in the dispenser: in this case the machine does not issue a cup. Statistics about the percentage vend of cups and mugs can usually be ~ r o v i d by e~ the vending company. These statistics can be used to monitor relative usage and to feed back results to staff.

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Save-A-Cup provide a collection service for single-walledpolystyrene(plastic)cups. TheyprovideEeca storagebins, flaking machines and labelled sacks. Eeca bins are specifically designed to stack cups, which substantially reduces the spacethey occupy. Cleaning staff must put the cups into the labelled sacks for collection. Flaking machines are more expensive but significantly reduce on-site storage requirements. In the collection of unflaked cups, 30 per cent of the gross weight is liquid. Save-&Cup provide back-up publicity toencouragestaffto recycle andhave developedarange of office stationery products madefrom recycled vending cups. These are useful and functional promotional tools. Did you know it takes seven vending cups to make one ruler?

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The raw ater rials used to ~anufacture cans are iron ore,tin and bauxite. This operatio~sin developing countries whichcan bevery d e s t r ~ ~ t i to ve t. Following extraction, the raw material is transported to smelting lting of all metals is very energy intensive. Once filled and transQ

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ported, cans have a relatively short shelf-life before they are disposed of in the waste stream. In the UK, cans are made from tinplate and/or aluminium and can be recycled many times into new cans. Recycling aluminium drinks cans not only saves natural resources, reduces litter and waste to landfill but also saves up to 95 per cent of the energy needed to produce a l u ~ i n i u mfrom virgin raw materials. Recycling aluminium cans is an excellent way to raise money for charity. Over 4 billion cans will be sold this year, worth over E30 million to collectors.

eparat i ng materials

Seventy per cent of drinks cans are aluminium, the remainder are steel. Aluminium and steel can be separated using a magnet (steel sticks to a magnet, aluminium does not) or look for the recycling symbol on the side of the can. Aluminium cans have shiny bases. Some contractors will collect aluminium only and some contractors will pay for aluminium cans, so if practical it is better to separate steel from aluminium in-house. Using can crushers

Can crushers will reduce the space the cans occupy. Wall-moun ted can crushers and bins with can crushing devices that sort steel and aluminium are available. hoosing a collection s y ~ t e m

The restaurant is generally a good location for a can bank, relying on staff retrieving cans from their trays. This scheme can easily be extended if successful. Assessment of current usage will help identify potential volumes. Find contractors ~ r i t i s hNcan or ACRA will provide details of

u' Find a local contractor and establish what they will cotlect prior to setting up the can crushers if the

u" Find out whether you will receive revenue On aluminium

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regional collection arran~ements.Some u" paper recycling companies will also collect cans. Contact your local 'Cash for Cans' d Recyclin~Centre for support materials and information about local services. These contacts will also be able to provide you ~ ~ e with storage containers. See C ~ a 10, Contacts and Resources

Nominate a charity to donate any revenue to If the volume of cans is too small to make collection viable, take the cans to your nearest recycling facifit

~

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r Q ~ Q t hee s ~ h e ~ e Can recycling is a highly visible way to promote recycling and used aluminium drinks cans arevaluable; collecting them for recycling is a great way to raise funds. If all the aluminium cans sold in the UK this year were to be recycled, over E30 million could be paid to the collectors. Decide what charity you want to collect for. Survey staff if you do not have a nominated charity and promote the chosen charity on notice-boards and near the can bins.Give staff regular feedback on the amountof money raised and encourage them to bring cans from home.

More than one hundred tonnes of obsolete computers are dumped in landfill each year in the UK. There are a number of characteristics which make them a priority waste stream.Firstly, itis an increasing waste stream. The number of items disposed of will increase si~nificantly as products bought during the consumer electronics boom of the 1980s and year 2000 non-compliant computers and equipment enter the waste stream. Technological changes are speeding up obsolescence and reducing the average lifetime of equipment. Small amounts of hazardous materials are often integral to electrical goods; they may also include valuable and scarce raw materials. Their physical durability means that once discarded,they do not decompose and take up space in landfill for many years to come. The scrap value of this waste could be as much as €50 million annually. Rising landfill costs and mounting pressure for producer responsibility legislation (see Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment, page 25) has led to an increasing number of companies whospecialise in electronics refurbishment and recycling. An increasing number of computer manufacturers are developing equipment whichis designed for ease of disassembly and recycling. See C ~ f f 4,~ ~~ ~e ~ c ~ f f s i ~ ~

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Avoid purchasing new equipmentby upgrading existing equipment where possible. Don’t over-specify, Not all staff need high specification machines. Return equipment to the manufacturer for refurbishment. Computers can be broken down into component parts for re-use and recycling. Copper and silver from cables can be recycled, as can plastic and metal casings. Encourage exchange of equipment within your organisation. Another department 62

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Prospects Career Services is a not-for-profit company, committed to helping young people achieve success through their choices in education, training and employment, The company provides careers information, advice and guidance services for young people in Bromley, Bexley, Croydon, Sutton, North London and the Black Country.

Prospects’ offices in Bromley and Bexley joined Waste Alert, keen on minimising the amount of office waste they produced. They are in the process of establishing an office paper recycling scheme. Due to a recent upgrade of their computer system, Prospects had a number of redundant computers on hand and were keen to put them to good use. They contacted Waste Alert, who put them in contact with Convoy of Hope who arranged the pick-up from their Croydon depot. Convoy arranged for the transport of the computers to Kosovo, where they will be installed in a local school. In total, approximately 70 computers will be passed-on to teach children basic computing skills. One PC system will also be going to a hospice in Chernobyl and another to an old persons’ home in Croatia. Ray Auvray, Chief Executive for Prospects, said: ‘We’re grateful to Waste Alert, who have enabled us to protect the environment and help these young people at the same time.’ Prospects also held a ‘Black Bag Day’ where all unused paper, rubbish and furniture was cleared out. With the help of Waste Alert, nearly three tonnes of paper was recycled and unused furniture will be re-used internally or through the Waste Exchange. The prize for the oldest item discovered went to the / e ~ a book dated 1926! person who found The ~ r o ~Career,

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0 0

4 tonnes of waste and 70 corn E375 saved on disposal costs.

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may have a use for what you are throwing out? A lower specification c o m ~ u t e rcould be used as a print server or by someone who uses packages with lower requirements such as word processing-only programmes.

equipment. Offer to staff at reduced rates.

ill often be glad of your obsolete equipment. In the case of local authorities, equipmentcanoftenbepassedonto schools. Your local waste minimisation club may offer an exchange service.

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There are a numberof specialist recycling companies whooffer a range of refurbish and recover services. Revenue is available for equipment in working order, of a maximum age. Charges for collection are dependent on location, quantity andtype of equipment. Producing an inve~toryof equipment as it is discarded will en you receive m a x i ~ u mrevenue from it. See ~ ~ a ~10, t ~ e or ~ t a cand ts ~ e s o ~ r c e ~

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Over 6 million toner cartridges are used in UK offices every year and this figure is rising by 15 per cent per year. Around half of these are disposed of to l~ndfill. Cartridges are very bulky waste which will not degrade for thousands of years. In addition, theink powder they contain is potentially hazardous and should be treated accordingly. There is a multitude of types of laser andinkjet cartridges on the market but the majority of them are nowable to be remanufactured, a process which saves signifa icant amountof non-re~ewableresources. You may be able to earn revenue from your obsolete cartridges. Newly introduced cartridges can be worth up E4 to each, most others are worth E l or E2. Some collectors will pay you directly, others will arrange for this revenue to be donated to 64

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omes of Sidcup is a privately managed t troubled youths. They experience a high turnover of backgrounds thus requiring the faci I it ie but entertain them as well. Castle Ho of this year and has made significant costs savings Exchange.

Castle’s first savings were achie Respond, a furniture charity ope ~rganisationover 5330 in ~urchasin ouncil to collect their pap i ~ i n a t e sthe need for a ed r u ~ b i scont ~ disposal costs and 1 tonne of rubbish. Castle Homes has received a sn ~rmchairs’two overhead projec and metal chairs through the Was

es i~~ustrates how a series of small changes c

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your chosen charity. It i s usua~lynece~saryto collect at 1 to earn rev~nue. New cartrid~escost up to E l 0 0 each. ~ i ~ h are now widely a v a i ~ ~which ~ l e could save you 4, ~ ~ ~ c ~ i ~ ~ i ~ ~~~~~~~

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There are currently over l 4 million mobile phone users in the UK and it has been predicted that half of the population will own a mobile phone by 2002. Currently old, disused or broken handsets arelikely to end upin landfill. A new initiative launched in May 1999 aims to ensure that mobile phones are collected and recycled. Ten industry partnersincluding all of the major manufacturers and ECTEL (the European Telecommunications and Professional Electronics Industries Association) have joined forces to run a national take-back scheme called Retur~ableTelephony. Phones, batteries and accessories regardless of manufacturer or network can be returnedto any Vodaphone,Cellnet, BT or One 2 One shop nation-wide. Theplastic housing of the phone is separated and then passed on to a plastics recovery company. The circuit boards are also separated and the gold and other metals are recovered. The only part of the phone that is not currently recoverable is the display screen, as it contains heavy metals.

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Find out how many mobile phones are in use in your organisation and what happens to them when they are replaced. stem for obsolete mobile phones and accessories. st collection point by contacting your network operator or t h r o u g ~the ECTEL website.

Every year we throw away over 400 million batteries into landfill sites. Batteries contain heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium, with smalleramounts of lithium, cobalt, zinc, silver and other chemicals. Cadmium does not degrade and cannot be destroyed. Since 1994, all general purpose batteries (as soldby members of the European Portable Batteries Association, EPBA) in Europe are mercury free; however, some batteries containing small amounts of mercury continue to be import~dinto Europe and the remaining pre-1994 batterieswill still be entering the waste stream. There are three main types of batteries that are used commonly in offices: general purpose batteries (~ictaphones,pagers), button cells (watches, cameras, calculators) and rechargeables (laptop computers, video recorders). Use of rechargeable (nickel cadmium) batteries is increasing. They are most suitable in high drain appliances such as mobile phones, camcorders and laptop computers. ~echargeablebatteries differ from conv~ntional batteriesin that they discharge at a uniform rate throughout their life rather than fading slowly. This 66

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rapid ‘cut out’ means they are not suitable for smoke or burglar alarms or electronic data storage devices and personal organisers. Nickel cadmium rechargeable b ies should not be disposed of with normal waste, Up to 65 per cent of a general purpose battery is recycla~le.Facilities for recycling batteries in the U K are minimal; however, proposed through the European Commission would require the collection a portable batteries. The main battery manufacturers have set up for their own rechargeable batteries which are then sent to the continent for recycling and recovery. REBAT is an i~itiativem a ~ a ~ by e dthe British Battery ~anufacture to encourage collection of portable nickel cadmium batteries in the U under European legislation. When future European legislation requires the collection of all portable batteries, REBAT will extend its remit to m a n a ~ eall types and may develop a labelling scheme to indicate recyclable batteries, which incor~orates the REBAT logo. Of the main battery types commonly used in the office, currently be recycled. See Cha~ter10, Contacts and Resource

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Use the mains wherever possible when you have the choice. Use rechargeable batteries and a battery char er. The energy needed to make batteries is 50 times greater than the energy they give out. Ensure you are using non-mercury batteries (from an EPBA ~anufacturer). Take used batteries to a recycling centre if they have collection boxes. If not, ring your local council’s Recycling Officer and ask for Send batteries back to manufacturers, where such a s is available, or set up a scheme with your local suppli f possible. See the ice Waste secti~nof Cha~ter10, Contacts and Resources

Packaging makes up around 7-10 per cent of industrial, commercial and municipal waste and an estimated 10 million tonnes are disposed of annually. Packaging, generally made of cardboard, wood and plastics is that is not always easy to recycle. Packaging made different materials (eg different types of plastic or polystyrene and cardbo needs to be separated prior to recycling. Composite materia~ssuch as foile stics and Tetra~ack,are almost impossible to recycle. Waste cardboard has a very low value and t~erefore it is not always cost effective to arrange for it to be recycled. The P Responsibility Regulations (page 23) will influence the m a r ~ efor t w in the future as more companies are obligated to recover and recycle. However, while small amounts of packaging may currently be difficult to recycle, they are ideal for re-use. 67

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e manufacturers will collect packaging for re-use or recycling; increasingly suppliers are delivering products in reusable packaging. Wooden packaging is less common in offices but is still used for pallets and crates for distribution and import of products and is included in the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997.

Arran e for your supplier to take back packaging when they deliver, especially lar or standard items. minimum packaging when you order goods. Complain if they come overpackaged? Compact or flatten cardboard boxes to reduce the space they take up in your

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Contact your local waste minimisation club; they may know of an outlet for your packaging.

There are a p p r o ~ i ~ a t~e0l,~0 0 0 , 0 0 0fluorescent tubes disposed of annually in the rescent lighting tubes contain mercury (as much as 30 mg), c a ~ m i u mand shing used tubes produces dust and vapour emissions that present a health isused sodium lamps are a potential fire risk until they are correctly broken sodium ~eutralised. scent tubes do not currently come under the Special W a s t ~Regulations. egorised as Difficult Waste under the ~nvironmental ProtectionAct er, the hazardous natureof the mercury they contain means thatparticular care should be t ken over waste fluorescent tubes.

time, to maintain consistent lighte costs.The tubes can be disposed bulk and you will maintain consis-

ed to enable oresc scent tubes to be recycled. pecialist disposal facilities. Lamps are crushed process. ~ e r c u r ycan be extracted from the powder once separatedfrom the glass and metals.All the materials can , i n c ~ u d i nthe ~ mercury, which is used in new lamps. Details are available from ~ e r c u r yRecycling.

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Check the contractors’ and the intended waste site licences to make sure th they are licensed to handle fluorescent tubes and that they are being recycle It will help to know how many tubes you dispose of when considering th bility of recyclin~.Use the following to estimate the number of tubes 0

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zyxwvutsrqponm One tube per 9 m2 of office space. Each tube lasts about two years.

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hould be made if more than one tube is disposed of to six bags of general waste. If quantities of 20 or 30 tubes are to be disposed of at any one time, a waste contractor with appropriate disposal facilities should be identified, The contractors’ and the intended waste site licences should be checked to make sure that they are licensed to handle such waste. See Cha~ters5,~ ~ i l d~iann ~a ~ e ~ nand e n t10, Contac~sand ~ e ~ o ~ ~ ~ e s

Furniture is a bulky, high value waste which often has substantial opportunities for re-use. See Cha~ter4, ~ ~ r c ~ a s i n ~

Could obsolete furniture be used elsewhere in the building? Executive chairs from a conference suite could be used in other meeting rooms or the entrance lobby. Always consider refurbish~entprior to disposal, often fur~itureis thrown out because it doesn’t match the new decor. ~ e - u p h o ~ s t e ror i nrenovation ~ can give the necessary facelift to existing furniture. Contact your local waste ~inimisationclub or local authority for details of local refurbish~entcharities in your area. They will refurbish furniture and either sell it or use it in c o ~ m u n i t vmoiects.

.. ".. . . .

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It is important to recognise that you ‘buy in’ environmental impactst ~ r o u your g~ supply chain. Therefore, the performance of the products and services that you buy directly affects your own environmental position. In the service sector, the most significant environmental effects of an organisationmay be those that are bought in. Dealing with suppliers who are committed to sound environmental performance can make your job easier and help you to achieve your purchasing objectives. Equally, poor performance from your suppliers weakens your own environmental position. This is particularly important where you are buying in products with a high environmental i~pact/profile.Suppliers and contractors can represent significant risks where they are conducting anactivity which is covered by environmental legislati~n.For instance, youmay be relying on your cleaning contractorsto comply with the Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991 on your behalf; in such circumstances both you and your contractor have responsibilities under the Act. See Chapte~3, Office Waste,forf ~ r et~ails~ e ~ Many organisations see green purchasing as h ng an inevitable cost premium attached, but this does nothave to be the case.Considering environmental criteria in purchasing decisions provides a change in focus away from purely cost-based decisions. The first question you should ask is: do you need it in the first place? The best environmental and commercial option is not to buy it! We outline standard purchasingprinciples and the environmenta~ issues associated with a numberof common office products with guidance on how to select the most environ~enta~ly preferable. We also cover the common services such as cleaning and catering which are often contracted out. Includingenvironmentalcriteriaintotenderandcontractdocumentation formalises this commitment. For small organisations a simple policy statement supported by guidelinescan be sufficient. See ~ a s ~ e ~ ~ ~ ~ e r s ’ ~ ~ r ~ ~ e s t i ~ n n aon i rpage e 87 The chapter also contains an overview of purchasing structures in different organisations and the points to remember when purchasing services.

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rganisations in both the private and public sectors are increasingly having to deal with the environmental consequences of the products and services they purchase.This has implicationsforthose purchasing theseproducts and services and, increasingly, for their suppliers. In many respects, 'the environment' has become a factor in purchasing decision-making, alongside traditional criteria such as price, quality, delivery, technical capacity and financial stability of the supplier. The pressures on organisations to address their own environmental performance (and that of their suppliers) can be seen to come from a number of sources, many of which are common to the public and private sectors. They includethe concerns of the localcommunity, regulators and legislators, stors and insurers, customers and suppliers. Public sectororganisations have particularduties and responsibilities connected with the environment, including those relating to the types of goods and services they purchase. For many organisations in the public sector, this has resulted in the development of purchasing policies which themselves may form art of a wider environmental management system, such as IS0 14001 or . In the public sector, concern for Best Value is a major influence on sing, and environmental improvement must be seen to be consistent with this requirement.

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In the private sector, purchasing is being recognised as a means of delivering on environment~lcommitments and as a means of minimising risk to the business. This can be seen from two perspectives: that of the customer and that of the supplier. From the customer's pointof view, there is a need for thecompany to secure supplies of products in the future, particularly where the item is critical to the business. Where environmental regulation or other pressures threaten the survival of a supplier of critical items, it is in the customerk interests to act. The customer may either seek an alternative, more environmentally sound supplier or the company may decide to encourage its existing supplier to adopt environmental improvement measures. In either case, long-term security of supply is the goal. For the supplier, there are a number of priorities associated with environmental performance improvement. To retain business and to achieve competitive advantage, they need to be able to demonstrate their c o m ~ i t m e n t t oenvironmental improvement and, increasingly, to produce evidence to support this.

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Many companies are beginning to look for appropriate measur mental improvement ‘on the ground’, whereas in the past they m satisfied with an environmenta~policy statement from suppliers. upp pliers are also concerned, to a greater or lesser extent, of environmental regulation on their business. In i n d u s t r i ~se~ particular scrutiny, they need systems and procedures in place that their operations are compliant with legislation. Suppli attend to the needs of their shareholders and investors, who to see evidence of good environmental performance. The imp nvironment’s Index of Corporate Environmental Engag major UK companies) has illustrated the potential for envi within companies to be driven by external influences. CO companies and benchmarking systems are powerful tools ment, not least because of their public relations aspects. In order to minimise risk, it is clear that those responsible for p need to look beyond the boundaries of their own organisation. The products and services extends all the way from the extraction of raw through many stages of production and assembly, to use, re-use, rec ultimately to disposal (if necessary). Under increasingly stringent e tal reg~lation,companies have been encouraged to look for ma innovative ways not only to minimise the impact of their product take them back for re-use. Examples of this can be found in the e~ectronicand electrical goods market and in the automotive sector. This trend will incre environmental regu~ationson waste are tig~tened. The reasons for this tightening of regulation can in many cases b the need in large parts of Europe to reduce the ~uantities of was landfill. As charges for waste disposal continue to rise in the UK, organisations will put pressure on suppliers to take back products at the end of life and to take back much of the packaging associated with the p r o d u ~ t s purchased. Extending this process even further results in companies movi away from offering ‘products’ as such, towards offering to supply the ‘function’ provided by a product. Using the model of the office photocopier, there has been a trend away from buying the piece of equipment towards ‘leasing’ it and having the su provide a range of associated services during the life of the photocopier i particular organisation, The supplier would be responsible for taking away the machine at some stage, and usually replacing it with a newer model. This concept has been extended to new areas, for example in floor coverings, instead of buying a carpet the organisation effectively ‘leases’ the floor ing for a period of time, leaving the supplier responsible for maintenan removal” In this case, the purpose of the exercise is to minimise waste in the whole supply chain by putting the ‘redundant’ floor covering back into the production process for manufacture of new product, uch innovations have implicationsforboththedesign/specific process and for account~ng.

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isions, organisations are now looking more closely at the total cost of products and services across their whole life, including waste . hen all of the costs associated with a roduct / service are nt, a product which appears to be more xpensive (based on lone) will be shown to be a more cost-e ctive solution. The concept of ‘whole life costing’ has been well used in the purchase of fleet vehicles, for example. ~nfortunately, formost organisations’ it is still very difficult to trace costs hey are associated. ~ a s t e for example, and cannot be culty lies in the fact that a ducts and services during their ng of costs all but impossible ‘true’ costs of products and asing’ become acceptable and l

he design and specification of for savings. This is often done vative approaches to products mption’ amount of packaging d can result in both a direct cost saving to the o r ~ a n i s ~ t i oand n reduced environmental impact. This is the sort of ‘win-win’ approach favoured by many organisations.

with fewer suppliers, it is clear that the ability to satisfy a customer’s requirements on ~nvironmentalperformance will be critical to the supplier’s long-term

used, tools for driving environmental has been the supplier enviro~mental

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Some organisations have adopted systems requiring their suppliers to gain, or commit themselves to gaining, certification to environmental management systems. Others allow suppliers to i ~ p l e m e n at system without necessarily going for certification, while the customer often re~uires the system to be audited as part ofsupplier assessment. Public sector organisations must ensure that the approach they adopt complies with public procurement rules, however. Organisations can be expected to focus on indicators of environmental performance in the coming years, which is likely to involve the ~ ~ v e l o p m eof n t more relevant ‘questions’ or indicators for assessing supplier performanc

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To maximise the benefits of recycling, the materials that you collect need to be

turned into a new product. By buying recycled you are increasing the demand for these products, encouraging the recycling industry and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. Collecting materials for recycling is only the beginning of the chain.If you’re not buying recycled, you’re not recycling! This national campaign aims to encourage recycling activity and the purchase of‘ recycled products and packaging by thepublic,therebystimulatingmarkets forrecycled materials. Launched in November 1998, the campaign is promoted by Waste Watch, the national organisation working on raising awareness of waste issues and the ‘3Rs’ (Reduce, Re-use, Recycle), and the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (MWC).WasteWatch also produce the UK Recycled Products Guide, a comprehensive listing of over 100 roducts containing recycled materials. See C ~ ~ ~10,t e r Contacts and Resources A Buy Recycled logo is a central featureof the Campaign, and it is used to communicate its aims, These are: * 0

to achieve an environmental ‘closed loop system’ by means of its Buy Recycled logo; to close the recycling loop using a campaign slogan: ‘BUY Ill] RECYCLE Ill] BUY RECYCLED’;

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to encourage increased public participation and support for recycling schemes; to raise public awareness of recycled products and packaging with recycled content; to inform the public of the availability and quality of such products and packaging, thus stimulating recycling markets.

The Campaign is coordinated by local authority Recycling Officers, and is aimed at the public through local authority contacts and buildings, in association with supermarkets and other retail outlets. Most recently, Sainsbury‘s has become the first retailer to join, and it has persuaded suppliersof some of its own-brand products to apply for the Campaign’s logo.

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rum established at Manchester School of of anc chest er Institute of Science and regular opportunities for participantsto sha and d e t e r ~ i n egood practice in environmental supply chain man The Forum was launched in December 1996 as part of a nvironmental Change Programme of the Economic and ouncil. Forum participants include: environrnental mana~ers health and safety managers purchasing, procurem nt and supply chain managers a c a d e ~ i c swith experienc sentatives of business support groups re~resentatives of non-profit organisations government officials representatives of NGOs. ~articipantscome from both business and industry and from the public sector. wide range of industry and commerce is represented at the Forum, including: andwatercompanies(includingUnitedUtilities construction companies; m~unications co~~anies; e~uipmentmanufacturers;

as founder

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1 Public sector participa tatives of government agencies, authorities the and N rne meetings take place at UM while others are hosted by participatin~companies and organisations.

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twork of participants who are willing to share ex t practice’ in the integration of environmental cri to purchasingandsupplychainmanagement. In their 1997 eport, United Utilities PLC commented

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~ €i n v~~ r o ~ n ~ e ’n s ‘ ~ have e be~ome a founderm e ~ b eof r ~ hai in ~ o r u m , e s t a ~ / i s h~e di t the h aim of exp/oring and dis environme~ta/ ~rocurement best ~ r ~ c t ~ ~ e formal t hm r o u ~ ~ inform^^ n e t ~ o r as ~ sthere appear to be any benefits from ~ h a r i ~ e x ~ e r i e n c e’~ . ~ e e t i n g sof the Forum have addressedissues identifiedbyparticipants themselves as being of particular interest, including:

* *

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supplier assessment developing green specifications appropriate environmental criteria for tenders and contracts integration with environmental managem how to respond to customer demands for environmental information.

Sector-specific meetings have also been arranged, for example the meeting focused on the construction industry.

tive approach adopted by the Envi~onmentalSupply Chain Forum is designed to deliver practical benefits to its participants. A number of tools and techniques have been emo on st rated by invited speakers, aimed at a~sjsting companies to meet their environmental supply chain objectives. ~ e t ~ o r k i has ng led to work being commissioned by Forum participants. Since April 1999, the Forum has become a partner in a two-year funded by the European ~egional ~evelopment Fund, aimed at assistin y in ~ n v i r o n ~ e n t~~n a/ in the north-west of England. The ~ u p p ~ha ~ r o g r a involves ~ ~ e the Forum as a network of lead purchasing companies. The ~rogramm aims ~ to encourage SME suppliers to adopt clean technologies and good environmental practice, and to assist them to develop eco-pro~ucts related to the environmentally sustainable strategies of their key customers.

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~evelopmentplans for the Forum include the creation of a website to serve as part of a ‘Virtual Forum’ for Environmental Supply Chain ~ a n a g e m e n t . proposed website will include access to the following:

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environmental supply chain ‘bestpractice’material; hyperlinks to other websites;

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on-line discussion groups; publications resulting from Forum meetings and academic research output: regularlyupdatedinformationoncurrentissuesinenvironmentalsupply chain management; news about future events of particularrelevance, including conferences and workshops.

Plans for the website reflect the growth in the number of enquiries on the subject being received through the network. In recent months, good contacts have been e s t a ~ l i s h e dworldwide, including the Philippin~s and Hong Kong where a similar network is being established with input from the UMIST coordinator.

The International Standards Organisation has recently mabe moves to harmonise standards for eco-labelling schemes and IS0 14024 has been approved to cover environmental labelling. IS0 1402 1, which relates to environmental claims, is likely to be promoted by the government as the main source of guidance onimplementing the voluntary UK Code of practice on green claims. If a claim is made that a product or packagingis recyclable, the use of a symbol will probably remain optional, but if one is used it may well be the Mobius loop, which if used to indicate recycled content should have a percentagevalue next to it. The Mobius Loop is an inter~ational~y recognised recycling symbol of three arrows, representing each aspectof a recycling programme: collection, rema~ufacturing/reprocessin~ into new a product, and finally purchase by the consumer. The symbol is only supposed to be used on goods that are ‘recyclable’ or include ’recycled content’.

The Ecolabel is designed to reduce confusion by providing an authoritative and independent label to identify those goods with the lowest environmental impact in specific categories. The scheme is intended to promoteproducts which have a reduced environmental impact along their life cycle, and provide consumers with a way of i d e n t i f ~ nproducts ~ which have less environmental impact than others.The scheme focuses on the domestic market andto date the market response has been poor. The scheme is administereddomestically by the UK Ecolabelling Board. Conditions for awarding an ecolabel are defined by product group and include a range of environ~ental andtechnical criteria. Companies whose brands qualify for the label can apply for permission to display it on their products. The scheme has had a slow start butis steadily expanding, with the following office product groups now covered: copying paper, indoor paints and varnishes, single and double ended light bulbs, personal computers and portable computers, printed matter. Criteria are also under consideration for batteries, converted paper products and a host of other product groups. 78

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zyxw zyxwvutsrq zyxwvutsr zyx ki has developed a radical but simple framework for sustaine principlesofmaterials and energyflowinnature, is an easy to understand protocol for understanding y can become more sustainable. uct systems and m i m i c ~ i ~

It is very achievab~e to undertakemass production using the basic protocols

followed by natural systems. There are five design re~uirements for sustainable products. The first three mimic the principles used by plant and animal ecosystems:

1

2 3

Cyclic: The product is made from organic materials, and is recyclable or compostable, or is made from minerals that are continuously cycled in a closed loop. Solar: The product uses solar energy or other forms of renewable energy that are cyclic and safe, both during use and manufacture. Safe: The product is non-toxic in use and disposal, and its manufacture does not involve toxic releases or the disruption of ecosystems.

The fourth re~uirementis based on the need to maximise the utility of resources in a finite world:

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~ f f ~ The c ~product’s e ~ ~ efficiency ~ in manufacture and use is improved by a factor of ten, re~uiring90 per cent less materials, energy and water than products p r o v i d i n ~ e ~ u i v a ~utility e n t did in 1990.

And the fifth recognises that all companies have an impact on the people who work for them and the communities within which they operate:

5

Social: The product and its components and raw materials are manufactured under fair and just operating conditions for the workers involved and the local communities.

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For a given product, it is possible to score each of these requirements out of 100, and this information can be expressed in a simple logo, or it can be vital statistics-style index: 50 130 190 f 40 I 10.

es concentrate on assessing the rs rather than focusing on product buying is to locate and purchase nd services it buys and changing tion can make a significant differnmental impacts. Taking it a step n be mapped out. t how many tonnes of each type of material flow t h r o u ~ hthe organisation. Then comes an ~ssessmentprocess that ranks these materials flows by the amount of ecological space they take ich ones are the most important. From this an ~ 0 : 2 0plan can be takes the products that cause 80 per cent of the im n makes a plan for them to be service organisation, these will typically include the old chestnuts like paper, but the list will often surpriseas well. nce the priority products have been identified' set up a team for each do a thorough cyclic I solar I safe score on each essed, the direction for improvement is usually inability for manu~acturing, the challenge can ediate, 'low-hanging fruit' approach and a more principle on environment~laudit data collected from nine London offices, it was found that 80 per cent of office impacts com from: vel and commuting.

This means that only 20 per cent of impacts arise from other areas such as: electrical, lamps, batteries and otherelectronicwaste,stationery and uma~les,furniture and carpet, refrigerants, clothing, post and couriers. ore these, but recognise that they should take up a smaller amount than the 80 per cent impact areas. '

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tion is clear, the solutions will pr sent themse~ves- and so will hang in^ which products are bou tions themselves is abalancing act b perce~tions.~ i t care h and d e ~ i c a ~ ~to n , but most of all there needs to b The beauty of an ~ 0Product : Plan ~ is~ that it is c1 senior execut~vescan understand it and it can be c incorporated into the organisation's overall business from the 'how can we be less bad?' mentality to the'ho mindset, we can make sourcing ~ r o d u c t s t h a tare cy en gag in^ and s a t i s ~ i n gchallenge.

The Total Cost Approach is a methodo~ogy which helps you to look beyond the purchase price of a product. There is a strong link between ~urchasing and waste management, but this is often not recognised, there being little communication between those responsible for each function. It often costs more to dispose of a product than it does to buy it in the first place but you should not wait until you have to dispose of a product before you find this out. The true costs of waste disposal are often underestimated.See C ~ a ~3,t Oflice ~ r Waste,~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~ ~ ~ubstantialreductions in waste disposal costs and therefo ved by the consideration of rec~clabilitya purchasing decisions (eg toner cartridges Using the Total Cost Approach will hi hlight the cost effectiveness of investing in an initially more expensive product to reduce costsin the long run.For example, efficient light bulbs are more expensive to buy than regular bulbs but use approximately one-fifth of the power and last up to eight times longer. Life cycle analysis (LCA) is another purchasin tool which takes into account all stages of a product life cycle from the sourcing f the raw ater ria^ to end-of-life disposal. The key issues are sourcingof raw materials, manufacturi~ p a c ~ a g i n g , ~ i s t r i b uusage, t ~ o ~ ,re-use, recy~la~ility and dispos l. The area of highest impact varies considerably from product to product; some, such as furniture, can have a high environ~entalimpact in several stages of the life cycle.

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Before you buy any pro uct ask the following ~uestions:

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The best environmental option is to purchase less. Before pur~hasinga product or service consider whether you could mend or repair existing equipment or use products more efficiently. m

Some products can be made from a lower specification material which uses less resources without compromisingquality. For instance, low-grade paper canbe sufficient for use in internal note pads.

~urchasinga product which is manufactured using re-used orrecycled raw materials encourages the re-use recycling or of waste. Many office products, suchas paper and toner cartridges, are now available with a recycled content. Look for the lowest wholelife cost, not just the lowest capital cost. Relatively expensive products, such as energy efficient light bulbs, may last longer and create less waste, leading to overall savings. Try to make an estimate of the running costs of the product over its lifetime.

If the product, such as a cleaning chemical,is potentially harmfulit will be supplied with a COSHH Safety Data Sheet detailing how to handle it. Try to replace these products with alternatives that do not require such precautions.

Try to purchase products that can be re-used or recycled at the end of their useful Life. For instance, thermal roll fax paper cannot be recycled and so purchasing this type of fax rather than plain paper models will mean all faxes received must be thrown away.

Some potentially hazardous products such as paints, solvents and oils can cause particularenvironmentaldamageandincursignificantfinancialcostsupon disposal. Try to find an alternative that is safer and cheaper to dispose of, for instance water-based rather than solvent-based products.

Direct computer links with suppliers, possibly controlled through the office supplies department, can save time and money and give you improved management control; for example, suppliers canprovide you with detailed printoutsfor improved control. 82

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Schroders London Group has a centralised contract for general st supplier was selected as a result of their innovative intranet-based ordering system and ~exibility. This has resulted in improved efficiency and a considerable reduction in administration. The aim is to reduce the range of products prior to promoting environmentallypreferableproducts.This will improvecontrol and facilitate monitor~ng. E-commerce or Electronic-commerce (the purchasing of goods through the Internet) has arisenalongside the massive growth in Internet-based companies and the increased accessibility to Internet facilities. However, none of these Internetbased companies has environmentalpolicies or systems in place. Therefore, whilst there is general acceptance that e-commerce will be the second industrial revolution,there is also a growingconcernthatlack of re~ulation will cause environmental damage. One prediction made has been that shares in white vans will soar as homedelivery services become more popular! Despite these concerns, e-commerce has a number of potential~ypositive sustaina~ilityimpacts: * * *

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eco-efficiency aspects - reduced paperwork, administration, communication easier collection of enviro~mentalperformance information (where it exists) easier access to markets for sustainable products. Smaller traders are able to advertise and market their products directly to aninternational market.

The amount of products and services bought over the Internet is likely to increase in the future; it is important that youapply the same environmental criteria to ecommerce purchasing decisionsas you would to any others.

Large organisations with well-established environmental programmes are increasingly looking to green their supply chain. Many small businesses are still unconvinced of the business caseof improving environmental performance, which canleave them unprepared if a company they supply sends them an environmental questionnaire or requests specific environmental information. Responsible environmental management is therefore an important competitive issue for small businesses. The environment has become, along with other issues such aschild labour and working conditions, an ethical issue. Consumers in the UK are becoming more concerned about the links that their purchasing has with environmental destruction and wider issues of social conditions indeveloping countries. This has been demonstrated by the public response to genetically modified food and an increase in organic and fair traded goods, particularly tea, coffee and chocolate! Examples are Caf6 Direct, Clipper and Ridgeway, Green $L Black and Desire. Effective environmental purchasing can reduce your liabilities, promote the sustainability of your organisation, reduce costs, improve control and reduce the impacts that you have on the environment,

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Best Value has replaced Compulsory CompetitiveTendering (CC?') for local authorities (see Introduction). Purchasing within local authorities falls broadly into three groups: departmental purchasing, central purchasing and purchasing consortia. In any specific local authority all three may be in use at any one time.

Many local authorities have devolved purchasing within departments where 70-80 per cent of officers have some purchasing responsibilities,Control over purchasing decisions can be weak in these circumstances without strong management and effective communication of environment~lpolicies.

Many local authorities have central purchasing units which act within the authority as trading units. These can coordinate purchasing and allow a point of focus for enquiries. Central purc~asingunits canadvise and educatestaff on environmentally preferable purchases but they cannot enforce choices. Central ~urchasing units can also act as anaid to bulk purchasing, with thefollowing benefits: ontrol over items stockedin line with environmental purchasing policy. tock control- enhanced management and use control. ~ o n i t o r i n g- provides information on purchasing within different departments, Ensures the best deals- allows bulk discounts.

~urchasingconsortia are groups of local authorities that have decided to combine their central purchasing units in order to consolidate their purchasi~gpower. Consortia can use their buying power to promote environmental alte~natives and to establish good deals from suppliers. The Central Buying Consortium, a group of nine local authorities, has a collective annual spend of W 4 billion ( ~ r o u n d w o r ~ , 1996).

This chapter is mainly concerned with thespecific environmental issues associated with purchasing a range of products and services to help you make informed individual decisions. However, our experience has shown that systematic a approach to environmental purchasing is necessary if real progress is to be made.

Environmental purchasing should be rooted in an official policy decision endorsed by senior management. An e n v i r o n ~ e ~ tpurchasing al policy, which commits your organisation to buying goods and services with a reduced environmental impact 84

the major provider of office supplies to Cheshire County Council. The Environmental Policy for Cheshire County Council includes a commitment tointegratingenvironmentalconsiderationsinto purchasing decisions. The policy states: As a major purchaser of goods and services the County Council will endeavour to select and promote those which are least damaging to the environment and will work with its suppliers to address such issues'. CBS Supplies support this policy c o m m i t ~ e n and t have inc~udeda selection of environmentally friendly products in the catalogue. The aim of this was to make it easy for individual purchasers to identify environmentally preferable products. The requirement to purchase the items was supported by the authority's Environment and Policy Committees.

heshire County Council commissioned ~ a s t e b u s t e r s t odevelop the range of environmentally preferable products and establish minimum environmental performance criteria for these products to ensure correct labelling. The aim of the project was to provide clear guidance to the authority in the selection and labelling of environmentally preferable products by establishing minimum performance criteria. This also provided guidance to CBS Supplies to identify specific brands which meet some or all of the criteria. This will ensure that indivi~ualpurchasers have confidence in the labelling system and use it effectively to reduce the impact of their purchasing.

~ i n i m u menvironmental performance criteria were established for the main product groups: paper stationery, pens, pencils and markers, office and desk accessories, filing, presentation and storage, office equipment, computing, cleaning and maintenance, domestic and electrical, audiovisual, art and craft. An environmental labelling scheme was introduced into the 1998/1999 cataloguesupportedby an explanationofthe scheme topromotethe Environmental Policy. The new catalogue has been very successful in changing people's purchasing decisions in favour of green products.

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For ~ 9 9 ~ / 2 0 0 a 0 separate Green Office Products Catalogue has been produced with the endorsement of the Chair of the internal Green Group and carries Member endorsement. The Council has introduced a policy to use Evolve Office for all their photocopier paper and business papers, which has a high recycled content. Cheshire Supplies now stock only Evolve. Cheshire Supplies include the minimum environmental performance criteria in their tenders. Cheshire County Council is now looking to extend the range of green products.

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and sets outobjectives by which this will be achieved, should be circulated widely. See C ~ a ~ t8,e r~ ~ v i r o n m e ~~t a l~ ~ afor more ~ e et ~ails eon ~~o l i t~ y f o r ~ u l a t i o n

Concentrate your efforts on the goods and services which havethe greatest environmental impact. As a rule of thumb, environmental impacts can be associated with purchasing spend;identify your ten most expensive items/areas of highest expenditure and start there. However, becareful,there may also be items of lower expenditure with a high environmental impact. acts to prioritise the areas that you will tackle first. Go for the easy wins! For instance, paper has a high profile; a decision to purchase recycled paper can bean effective and relatively easy first achievement. ~ommunicateyour policy to all relevant staff. See Chapter 7, Communication for further details. The implementation of an environmental purchasing policy may require specialist training. Provide staff with the environmental information and support. sourcing is to work with your suppliers to jointly develop environmental performance towards a goal of continuous improvement. This approach can bevery successful. Request environmental statements from your suppliers. Design minimum environmental standards for target areas and integrate these into 86

tender documentation. Your environmental policy and minimum environmental standards must be included in pre-tender or briefing documents as well as final tender and contract documentation. sed method of gathering information about the environmental performanceof suppliers. Their use by several large c ~ m p a n i e sin the UK such as British Airports Authority, B&Q and the Body Shop has led to their adoption by a number of smaller organisations. Questionnaires can workon two levels: firstly byasking general questionsabout the environmental management practice of a supplier and secondly by asking specific questions about the environmental performance of products and services. ~uestionnaires can also serve to senda strong message to your suppliersas to the to organisation and can be used to promote improved value of the en~ronment your environmenta~Performance. Organisations with a formal environmental mana~ementsystems such as IS0 14001 or EMAS arecommittedtoassessingtheirsuppliers (see Chapter 8, ~nvironmental ~anagement). Integrate environmental criteria into the normal supplier assessment process so that environmental information can be held on a database along with general supplier information.This inf~rmation can then be used to evaluate the relative environmental performance of suppliers in order to inform the tender process outlined above. Include environmental criteria in the tender evaluation matrix.

Wastebusters are committed to a policy of responsible business management which seeks to minimise the impact of our operations on the environment.An integral part of our environmental policy is the improvement of our performance through our supply chain. We are committed to running our own activities in an environmentallyresponsiblemannerandusingour purchasin~powertoimprove en~ronmentalstandards and encourage bestpractice. We have developed a set of purchasing criteria to give clear direction to our suppliers and enable them to demonstrate how they can help us achieve our objectives. We have also found that suppliers respond well, and often promptly, to this form of communication. See list on page 88 Before we buy any product we ask the following questions:

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Do we need to buy this product? Can we use a lower specification brand? Does the product contain re-used or recycled materials? 4 Which product is cheapest over its whole life? 5 Does the product contain chemicals requiring Safety Data Sheets? 6 Can the product be re-used or recycled once obsolete? 7 Will the product require special disposal arrangements?

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Do your p r o ~ u ~meet t s our criteria? Please complete this short q u e ~ t i o n ~ a i r e .

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Are you involved in any environmental, waste or energy saving i nf or ~ m ~t i on . projects? Please give details in ~ u p ~ o r t~n

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If London-based, are you a member of Waste Alert?

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Do you reduce, re-use and recycle wherever possible?

Do you include any environmental criteria in your purchasing decisions? Please give details in ~ u ~ p o r t i n ~I ~ f o r r n ~ t i o ~ . Do you assess your suppliers on their environmental performance? Have your products been designed to reduce their environmental impact?

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Do you have a policy on the use of virgin materials, PVC, GMO, Fair Trade

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Are your products and packaging easily re-usable ie are they refillable or refur~ishable?

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Do your products and packaging have a recycled content?

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Are your products packaged with a view to minimising waste?

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Are any of your products accredited to a recognised standard? eg NAPM, FSC, Eco-label.

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Are your products water and/or energy efficient?

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Are your products stored within Greater London?

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Do you carry out driver training?

Do you have a publicly available environmental policy, statement or report?

Are you accredited to or working towards an environmental management system? Please list in upp port in^ i ~ f o r m ~ t i o n .

Do you carryout any staffenviro~mentalawaren~sstraining?

Does your organisation work with the local community? ie do you employ local people or make donations to local charities?

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Please list any environmental, waste or energy saving projects that you are involved in:

............................................................................................................... Please list any environ~entalcriteria you include in your purchasing decisions:

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............................................................................................................... Are you accredited to an EMS standard, or working towards an internal EMS?

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group have a nationwide network of branches and have made tive environmental initiatives in order to improve their environnce. They havealso setuptheSarclays it to coordinate Barclays' own environmenta system, a key part of which involves supply chain management.

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20,000 suppliers across a significant number of spend areas. adopted a Four Stage approach to incorporating environmental considerations into their procurement process.

o/jcy~An updated and practical policy was developed, together with a set of governing principles. The policy was then integrated into the Group overnance Manual. isk ~~~~i~~~ Looking at the environmental impacts of goods or services throughout their life cycle,Barclays have built up an initial environk-ranking model for all products and services procured. s a ~ j oUsing ~ ~ the output from the risk-ranking model, a workflow as been established. Tools were developed to ensure relevant environmentalinformationwasgatheredduringthetenderprocess. Information included: existence of environmental management systems, legal compliance, environmental~y beneficial products and whether the c o m ~ a n ywas willing t o developapartnershipapproachtoimproving i r o n ~ e n t aperformance. l e / o of ~~ e ~ / a ~~ j o ~~For s ~~key i ~suppliers s~ relationshipswillbe fosteredfordiscussing issuesincluding:environmentalperformance, products supplied, packaging, and waste. In addition, relati developed with providers of environmental training for S encouraged to utilise the services provided.

ss will eventually cover 100 per cent of lays to prioritise areas most crucial to t chain environmental impacts. With such a large number of suppliers, it is essenys assign rankings to products and services so as to improve nue to look at ways of working with their suppliMEs on improving performance. ronmental Management Unit. See ~~a~~~~ 10,

id’s primary business is the high voltage transmission of electricity stations to regional electricity companies and large jn~ustrialusers. The business is structured into operating units with key r ~ s p o n s i ~ i l i t i for e s the ~evelopmentan maintenanceof an efficient, coordinated andeconomical transmission system. An Environmental ~erformanceReport is produced annually a externally to monitor performance against the Group Environmental eport highlighted the need t o improve quantification of current ementpractices,setimprovementtargets,adevelopa ~aste e a n a g e m e n t rategy Group was Strategy. AS a result, a ~ a s t ~ established with representation from the operating units t eliver a cor~orate strategy. waste there This that found group e m~nagement providing companies services to n to rationalise this by develop in^ a National Contract for waste disposal.

egy Group commis~ioned ~astebusters conduct to pilot wast across representativ~sites from each operating divis~onto assess ~ u r r e nwaste t management practices and identify improvements which result in improved environmental performance. The audits with legislation, competitiveness of current wastedisposal quantification of wastestreams. This information providedth the waste strategyand negotiate the national contra communicated to staff for effectiveimplementation.

ation of a national waste contract with environmental perform~nce to ensure consistency across all sites and contribute to environmen” tal report in^ require~ents. ~velopmentof a waste strategy to support the igni~icantlyreduced a~ministrative costs as e

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ional Grid ~ a s t e gives This a list of S at National Grid advice on disposal. tives for improved tion programme wi waste management practice and waste minimisation measures. Improved ~uantifiedwaste management information.

environmental information into purchasin mine ~ i n i m u m e ~ v i r o n m e ~standards tal and write the pproach involves less commitment but does not generate supplier infor~ation. If you integrate ~ n v i ~ o n m e n tcriteria al into your contracts you have a binding legal agreement that commits suppliers to meeting

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Encouraging suppliersto adopt recognised environmentalma~agementsystems during the courseof a contract can be another way of promoting good practice.See ~ n v i ~ o ~ ~ e~ nat na al ~ e r n ~ ~ t

arge ~uantitiesof information which needs to be isting ~urchasing structures. ou gather can representa significant cost in terms d be recognised when deciding on your approach. Don’t ask for infor~ationyou don’t need!

Many companies spend time and money gathering information with ~uestionnaires but are then not sure how to use that information.Oncetheprocesshasstarted, information needs to be managed, updated and used to inform decision makingon an ongoing basis. Before you decide to use ~uestionnaires,think how your ~urchasing decision making will be affected by the results. If you will not use the information you gather, do not gather it!

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General office stationery can be one of the most overloo~ed areas of office purchasing. Items such as filing products, pads, pens, batteries and scissors are relatively small purchases but can represent asignificant purchasing spend.

Whilst viable alternatives are nowavailable, many stationery products still use virgin materials and solvents. For example, writing instruments use raw materials and chemicals during manufacture, causing waste problems. Highli~hter and marker pens can contain solvents, copy paper may use virgin pulp from unsustainable forestry practices. Most general stationery items are used in-house and thereis little justi€ication to use products made from virgin materials where recycled alternatives exist. Filing products can be madefrom low-grade paper waste which helps to create a demandfor the raw material. PVC is used in some stationery products.It does not break down naturally and alternatives suchas ~olypropylene should be sought wherever possible. This section includes batteries, of which the UK used 634 million tonnes in 1998 (excluding rechargeables). Batteries are inefficient in their use of energy when compared to mains power, and may contain heavy metals, which contribute to air pollution if burned in a refuse incinerator and present a potential threat of water pollution if landfilled. The Batteries and Accumulators Containing DangerousSubstances Regulations 1994 aim to reduce the ~uantitiesof heavy metals (mercury, cadmium and lead) entering the environment from spent batteries. Further legislation is due in late 2000, which will extend the labelling and collection re~uirementsof the current directive.

Generalstationeryprovidestheopportunitytouse recycled products. Most stationery cataloguesinclude a rangeof products labelled ‘environmentally friendly’ but it is important to establish the criteria behind this label. Some suppliers’ labelling systems can bemisleading.

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ompany to increase the number of environ~entally sound products in the catalogue. Bars can be put on the purchase of certain products,toensurethattheenvironmentallysoundoptionsareused. Most stationery companies will source specific products on your behalf if they do not feature in the catalogue.See CBS S u ~ ~ l icase e s study, page 85 93

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stablished in 1983 by two green activists with a mission to bring concern for the environment into the office world and the world of print and design, and as an employee-owned business it combines this environmental mission with a strong ethical stance. Initially the company sold mostly copier paper, envelopes and toilet rolls - there was little else available at the time but it now stocks over a hundred product lines, including many environmentally friendly non-paper products. In its first tenyears of trading the company spent a lot of time sourcing new recycled printing papers and developing a market for them. Customers have included not only environmental organisations like Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, but also such mainstream operations as the BBC, NatWest, The Body Shop and Sainsbury’s. In the early 1990s Paperback also began looking at ways to develop the concept of the green office.

It became clear that greening the office shouldn’t begin and end with recycled paper, and Paperback has tracked down an impressive range of green nonpaperproducts, includingsolar poweredcalculators; scissorsmade from recycled steel: A4 folders and pockets from recycled polypropylene; remanufacturedlasertonercartridges and inkjetrefills. The companyalso offers customers solvent-free recyclable ecotape; black sacks made from recycled degradable plastic: marbled pens made from recycled plastic: pencils made out of recycled vending cups: bins for recycling waste paper: solvent-free cleaners and water filter jugs. Paperback’s portfolio of office papers now includes not only three different recycled copier papers and several letterhead papers, but also Context FSC, Europe’s first Forest Stewardship Council-approved watermarked letterhead paper made from 50 per cent post-consumer waste and 50 per cent FSC pulp (the Forest Stewardship Council is an international body that sets stringent environmental, economic and social criteria for sustainable forest management). The company has also recently introduced a range of bespoke ring binders and folders which offers attractive paper and board alternatives to environmentally damaging products like PVC.

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The company has produced an environmental statement outlining its policy on such things as the sourcing of products (suppliers must complete a detailed environmental questionnaire), the publication of environmental information to customers and the greening of its own office and distribution practices. Staff recycle waste paper, glass and other materials, and internal photocopying is frequently done on reject paper. Heaters have thermostatic controls and are fittedwithtimers.Computerscomewithenergystarrating,andwhen Paperback had to upgrade its computers, the old ones were donated t o a company which refurb~shesand sells IT e ~ u i p m e n at t low prices to charities, local community groups and schools. And it goes without saying that recycled paper is used for all letterheads and promotional material!

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y with recycled products. Specialist suppliers can beespecially useful for small organisations which can have problems sourcing small quantitiesof recycled products at a competitive price. There is often potential to reduce the cost of office supplies by improving control and making more efficient use of your resources, For example, box files can be relabelled and re-used and a number of products are not strictly necessary. Office moves can often be usedas anopportunity to order new stationery! de from recycled paper and board include binders and dividers, files, record cards, folders, memo and shorthand pads andremovable self-adhesive notes (commonly referred to by the brand name Post-it). Recycled cardboard is used in some products instead of the traditional plastic casingfor pens andpencils. When choosing writing instruments, consider the type of plastic used in component parts and assess recyclability. There are currently very few schemes for recycling plastic due largely to the variety of plastic types used both singly and in combination. Thermoplastics can be re-melted and reshaped. Someof those which are currently recycled include pol~ropylene,polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Recycled plastic products available include pens, paperclip holders, mug stands, rulers and scissors.

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dissolve colour pigments.They are major ozone depleters and may give rise to volatile organic mpounds, or VOCs, See Catering and Cl~uning, ~ n v i r o n ~ e nIssues, ~ u l puge l 17 Solvents such as toluene and xylene are mild c ~ r ~ i n o ~and e n sare commonly foundin markers specially formulated for writing on problem surfaces, such as glass, foil and oily metals. These solvents should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Environmentally acceptable alternatives to solvents are water-based products. 95

Beeswax is an environmentally sound alternative to solvent-based varnishes which protects the woodin pencils from moisture and prevents it from swelling up and the lead being damaged. ~ternatively,non-varnished pencils are widely available. Graphite is used in conjunction with clay as an alternative for the ‘lead’ in pencils. Some have a solid wooden end and shorter lead, since pencils are often thrown awaybefore they are completely used up.

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Avoid using batteries and use mainselectricity wherever possible or, better still, go for solar powered options, for instance, calculators. The energy needed to make batteries is 50 times greater than the energy they give out. Rechargeable batteries are more efficient in resource use and give savings in energy and cost. In smaller offices, using rechargeable batteries is often very practical, since it is easier to control.

The longer the life-span of a product, the greater the benefit to the environment. Ask if the product is designed to be re-used or discarded; are the materials used such that they can be recycled or made from recycled material to begin with? Replacements for durable products are needed less often so raw materials are not required as quickly to make a replacement. One significant d e v e l o p ~ e n in t this area is long lasting polymer leadsfor pencils. Packaging should be kept to a bare minimum and be made of recycled or recyclable material such as cardboard or tin. Plastic wallets should be made from recycled polypropylene, Consider whether the manufacturer takes any action in recovering used packaging for recycling. The options available for disposal of writing instruments are either landfill or incineration. But by far the most acceptable optionsin environmental terms are reuse and recycling. ~ a n u f a c t u r e r sof writing instruments have made progress in devising ways of making their products recyclable and/or re-usable, and thesetypes of products are stockedby a wide rangeof suppliers. Refillability promotes re-use. ~efillablewriting instruments arenow available in the form of pencils, highlighters, permanent markers, rollerball and fountain pens. This reduces the amount of casing (plastics, metals) going tolandfill.

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Small organisations obviously do not have the buying power of larger ones, but environ~entallypreferable products are widely available, so shop around! If your office i s small, but is part of a larger organisation, make use of national agreements. Improvements to theway resources are used,for instance if paper is re-used internally, can substantially reduce total usage.

upon the natural environment.

sector who care about the envir~nmentis to exploit

oping added value services to: ncourage efficient, effective and ~ r u d e n use t of nvironment . Develop innovative ways of recyc~ingand re-use of th of products, to provi

customer to the supplier. In addition to these measures, many office supplies com strong Internet presence. Tailored on-line product catalo systems and e-commerce features complemented efficien~ordering processes are reducing the number the same time as reducing the time spent on plac If you want to reduce your bills and protect th bit closer to your st~tionerycompany? They want

~ o n ~environment~dudleco.uk ~ c ~ ;

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Some environmentallypreferable office supplies are moreexpensive. However, cost is genera~lylinked to volume. If your supplier is aware that you are serious about

using these products and you guarantee the volume, you should be able to negotiate improved rates on this range. Some recycled products are cheaper than virgin equivalents. Increased market demand will also help to reduce costs.

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of environmentally preferable products varies considerably between different stationery catalogues. Some are confusing and you have to search pretty hard to find them. Names of products can be very misleading.

As with any purchase, it is possible to find some green products that do not work! It is therefore important to test them before distributing them throughout your offices (as you should do with any product). For example, whilesome correctionfluids work well, others do not. Some recycled Fost-ittype notesstick,whereasothers don’t! Product performance varies from brand to brand. Be selective about the productsyou introduce to ensure they are fit for the purpose.

Ferception of recycled products can be poor. However, in recent years quality has substantially improved. Good quality recycled alternatives are available to most products.

Electronic e q u i p ~ e ncurrently t uses a greater percentageof total office energy than it did in the early 1990s. As a major area of growth in energy c o ~ s u m ~ t i othe n,

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environmental impacts of office e ~ u i p ~ eare n t growing. See C ~ 5,~ ~ i ~ ~d i ~~ l ~ for further infor~ation on environ~ental issues energy and use. verage power demands of computers and other office equi show substantial differences between similar models by the same manufacturer. Heavy metals, solvents and CFCs are used during the manufacturin~ process. CFCs were used for washing circuit boards, but since the ~ o n t r e a Protocol l work has been conducted to phase them out (see Furniture Purch ing section for more i n f o r ~ a t i o n )Some , manufacturers have replaced CFCs wi water and alcoholbased solvent cleaners although solventsgive rise to VOCs. Environmental issues associated with photocopiersare dealt with in Chapter 5, E ~ i l d i n g ~ a n a g e mThis ~ n t .section deals ~ i t ~stablishing h perfor~anc~ stand~rds. Six million laser and desk-jet toner cartridges are used in the U per cent of these end up in landfi~~ sites. The bulk of this materi~l for thousands of years and represents a significant waste of resources. ~ i s ~ o osf ue ~ ~ ~ i is~covered ~ e in C~ ~ u 3,~~ ~ ~e~ ~c ~ e s ~ e Most manufacturers now use packaging ater rial with a recycled content. The Producer Responsibility O~ligations(Packaging Waste) Re~ulationsmake manufacturers more responsible for the packagi~gthey produce and will increase the number of return schemes.

Electronic equipment is covered by the proposed Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive and the Packaging Directive. See C ~ 3, Oflice ~ ~ ~~ s t~ e There are also health andsafety standards relating to photocopiers and laser printers, parti~ularly around indoor air quality.

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pushforlegislationonelectronics recycling. ICER draws together suppliers, manufacturers, retailers,recyclers, waste m a n ~ g e m ecompanies, ~t local a~thorities and bulk users. It is developing as a centre of expertise, establishing how much is recyclable and l o o ~ i n g aproduct t design, methods of recycling, collectio~ and markets for recycled material. It seeks to ensure thatany legislation is sensible and practical and that consumers are aware of what res~onsible c o ~ p a n i e sare doing. st common energy saving stan ard currently in use world-wide. The standard is promoted by the U S Environmental Protection Agency and awarded to units which meet or use less than 30 watt ~ n e r g yconsumption when on stand-by mode and which restart quickly from stand-by. An Energy Star can be awarded to monitors and computereq~ipment.

Star e~uipment has the sameenergy rating; on stand-by mode

ges for recycling and buy back re be refilled or rernanufactured, costs and 50 per cent on inkjets. There are ough quality varies considerably. The use of ct the printer warranty. Reputable compapair of your printer if damage is caused by

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between f 1 and E5 each, and a number ("g ActionAid, St Thomas' Hospital). If pre-paid return envelopes. sure that they have made a

r information about environmental policy. Look for a commithernical use: for example eliminating ozone depleting c h e ~ i c a l s e of solvent reduction.

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Low level ozone is produced by p~otocopiers,which can cause orexacerbate respiratory illness. Clarify theozonelevelsset for ipment,thesecanvary rably. See C h ~ ~ t10, e r Contacts and ~ e s o ~ r c e s Also check the frequency es built in to your service contract.

Most electronic eq~ipment has an energy-save facility; some are manual and some atically" Inpractice staff ility of recycled papers have a double-sided ouble-siding recycled ort paper path which

ase of d i s a s s e ~ b l y t ofacilitate recycli identification of different plastics makes recycling more viable. Refurbis and sub-assem~lies can be re-used ande q u i p ~ e n can t be returned for refurbish-

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eat will require less air conditioning, saving money in the long term,even if it is more expensive to buy initially.The government-funded ~ u i l d i n gResearch Energy Conservation Support Unit (BRECSU) has produced guidance for purchasers of office equipment which aims to minimise energy consumptio~.For equipment purchases, ask your supplier or m~nufacturer to provide detailed specification information; means of setting stand-by mode and recovery times.

turer for refurbishment. Computers can be broken down into component parts for reuse and recycling. Copper and silver from cables can be recycled, as can plastic and metal casings. The latter are shredded and broken down into ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The manufacturercanrecover precious metals such as copper, gold, silver and palladium on printed circuit boards. Hard disks,printedcircuitboardsand powersuppliescanbere-used by the manufacturer internally. Floppy disk drives and various chips can be re-sold to other manufacturers.

should be adopting reduction, re-use, recycling and return schemes. Most manufacturers now use cardboard packaging whichis made from l00 per cent recycled material. However, some manufacturers go further and promote the collection of the packaging material for recycling andre-use. Rank Xerox has reduced the amount of disposable packagingused for itsequipment;unwanted packaging is sent back to parts suppliers for re-use. Reductions in the amount of packaging waste left on your premises will reduce your waste disposal costs. Ensurethattheenvironmentalperformance and servicing standards provided by

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Some manufacturers use recycled paper as a scapegoat for any problems with e~uipment,which can cause problems with warranty agreements. Make sure that this is resolved before you start. Servicing companies areoften not fully aware of environmental performance of manufacturers. This can lead to problems with the use of recycled paper. However, in a tender situation, mostservice companies will offer to testrecycled papers for suitability. Some servicing contractors do not recommend the use of recycled papers in photocopiers even when the equipment manufacturer has their own brand or endorses a specific brand. ~reventative maintenance is not carried out, therefore partswill not be running at full efficiency at all times. Ozone filters are not changed according to the manufacturer’s recommendations (also dependent on size, usage and location). Servicing contractors should not charge call-out rates for difficulties arising from the use of recycled paper. Make sure this issueis clarified before contracts are signed. ~ o n s u ~ a b lare e s generally included in your contract:if you are purchasing your own consumables, make sure you are not paying for something you do not receive or would rather provide yourselves.

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The destruction of the world’s tropical rainforests in order to supply the timber trade is recognised as a major environmental concern. More than 12 million acres of tropical rainforest are destroyed each year. Particular areas of concern are South East Asia and est Africa. At the current rate of destruction, most tropical forests will have disappearedwithin 40 years. The international timber trade plays a major role in tropical deforestation and the loss of old growth rainforests in temperate and boreal areas. Careless extraction of timber from forests can cause soil erosion, nutrient loss and the extinction of plant and animal species (reduced biodiversity). Logging also 1 02

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threatens the existence of indigenous forest peoples and communities dependent on the forest. Less publicised concerns include the use of chemicals in the manufacturing process and the final disposal both of the packaging material and the furniture.

in the commercial logging of tropical timbers are the destructionof the biodiversity of rainforests. Popical rainforests representvaluable resources and are becoming one of the major sources of new medicines, but deforestation is causing the extinction of over 50 different species every day. Forestry practices can also bevery wasteful; for every cubic metre of timber removed,another cubic metre of useful wood is left to rot. P e e respiration acts to fix carbon dioxide (the most significant greenhouse gas) from the atmosphere, so wi~espreadlogging results in higher CO, levels and an increased threatof global warming and climate change. The environ~ental andeconomic effects of commercial logging on indigenous peoples are often not taken into account. Increases in landlessness and dispossession lead to social problems such as malnutrition and social and economic exploitation. Claims about forestry practices can be misleading; terms such as ‘sustainably managed’ may have no independentverification and can therefore be meaningless. A sustainably managed forest is one where a comprehensive programme of land planning and reforestation is implemented with careful control of the amount of timber removed from the forest, and minimal forest disturbance. Less than 1 per cent of tropical timber comes from truly sustainable sources. Conservation organisations have identified serious shortcomings in management systems in some countries, such as unlicensed felling and failures to observe minimum girths and minimum regeneration periods.

Founded by representatives of the timber trade and NGOs, the FSC aims to support environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests. To achieve this, theFSC accredits and monitors certifiers who audit the quality of forest management against agreed principles. Consumers can then use the FSC trademark as a guarantee thattheir wood comes from sustainably managed forests. The FSC group of members now includes major retailers such as B&Q, Do it All and Homebase, and in 1999 had certified over 150 forests in 28 countries.

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The W F 95 Plus Group is a group of companies representing over 20 per cent of the wood and wood products market in the UK who have made the following commitments: *

Members are committed to su~portingcredible independent systems of forest certification, based upon standards which take full account of environmental, ecological, biodiversity, social and economic needs, such as those promoted by 1 03

the pioneering work of the Forest Stewardship Council. embers are committed to buying increasing proportions of their wood products from independently certified sources. Certifiers include SCS, Rainforest Alliance, SGS, Soil Association and other independentcertifiers when appropriate. W F 95 Plus Group members have a combined annual turnover in wood products alone of E3.5bn and over 20 million customers per week. Signatories include B&Q, Sainsbury's, Jewsons,BBC magazines, Railtrack and The Co-op. The work of the W F 95 Plus Group has raised awareness within the timber

and timber products industries that large-scale consumers of products are not prepared to accept unsubstantiated claims about wood and that they want a credible guarantee that their timber and paper come from credible forests. The Groupis raising standards of information, performance and managementfor all wood uses.

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In comparison with purchasing new office furniture, refur~ishmentof worn out items can cost about half the price. Renovation can provide an environmentally preferable alternative to purchasing new productsas it avoids the disposal of nonrenewableresourcesandreducescosts.BusinessSeating(Renovations) Ltd provides a refurbishment service for all types of office furniture including chairs, desks and partitions. OFFERS and Furniture Recycling Network operate limited but expanding recycling schemes for office furniture. Contact details are at the end of this chapter. As the schemes are expanding all the time, get in touch with them to find out if they can provide a service in your area. See ~ ~ a ~10, t e~ r~ n tand ~ ~ t s for FSC accredited furniture suppliers.

Demand information from your supplier about the country of origin and forestry practices, and contactFSC for a list of member organisations. Chipboard can be usedas analternative to solid wood in sheet form. Made from the top four feet of softwood timber trees which would otherwise go to waste, it is sometimes facedwithmelamine orlaminate(paper-basedand derived from softwoods) and edged in plastic. Low-grade paper wasteis also made intochipboard. Second quality temperate veneers can be substituted for mahogany on chipboard panels.

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on-timber alternatives such as sheets produced from recycled fibres and agricultural waste are becoming morewidely available. Vending cups can berecycled into wood substitutes and are currently used in the ~ a n u f a c t u r of e garden furniture and 1 04

office stationery. It is not possible to make a blanket ju gement over the relative environmental performance of plastic, metal or wooden products, as cycle analysis has not been conducted.However, the use of waste pro materials closes therecycling loop and reduces disposal to landfill. Synthetic materials and low-gradetextiles can be usedin the manufactureof 'flock', a filling material for upholstery in furniture. Textile collection are becoming a common sight a l o n ~ s i ~glass e and paper ban sites. The use of textiles such asflock reduces the amount of post-consumer waste disposed of to landfill.

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Save Wood Products manufacture a wood substitute made from expanded polys packaging. Packaging is compressed and recycled into a hardwood substitute, It can be used in the same applications as wood but it does not rot, is i m p e r ~ o u to s water and insect attack and does not require varnishing or oiling. ~ c ~ o ~ a lisdusing ' s their polyst~ene packagin~ to make gardenfurniture for use in picnic areas.

of chemicals used in the manufacture of furniture which have significant environmental impacts. However, these can be avoi ed by c h o o s i n ~a manufacturer who uses environmentally preferable alternatives. lastic FCs W

d in the past as a blowingagent in upholsteryfoamsbuthavebeen phased out as a result of the Montreal Protocol. Intermediary replacement chemicais such as HFCs and HCFCs, also ozone depleting substances, are used to blow foam but will themselves be phased out over the next 30 years. Carbon ~ i o ~ i and de air are among thepossible replacements for such environmentally r am aging chemicals. An alternative to plastic foam is CMHR (Combustion ~ o d i f i e dHigh Re foam. CMHR foam has a better feel than conventional polyether foam and is ally more ignition resistant. It is manufactured using steam instead of freo and is therefore environmentally preferable. ed with preservatives such as pentachlorophenol a which give rise to toxic VOCs (for more information see Cate~in section). The use of non-toxic water-b~sedpreservatives is preferable.

Resin glue used in chipboard furniture contains formaldehyde, a toxic or anic compound which is an irritant to tissue, causing eye, skin and throat irrit nausea and allergic reactions. At high levels, it is believed to be carcinogenic. It is emitted as a vapour andis harmful during both production and use. Some types of board have low formaldehydelevels and are an acceptable alternative.

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with the French numbe e DIY retailer Castorama, and storama boast sales of billion. The combined business ranks to be the world's number three in the t it sells and business operation it underment. It is impossible to eliminate that y modifying the way the business is run ange offered. B&Q is, therefore, committed to the continamage caused by the day to day running e securing of raw materials; production' packagin~and

c role it can play in many indu~trialsectors ustomers cannor. buya greener product nderstand or believe the message. They a safe way if they are not told how to do

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any's environmental t retailer; B&Qhas to improving their

ness of our suppli-

environmental ~rogrammewhich reflect our own priorities.These are

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* * *

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~nvironmentalPolicy and Awareness (Quest 6) Environmental Action and Achievements (Quest 7 ) e or king Conditions in Reve~opingCountries (Quest 8 ) Packaging and Environmental Claims (Quest 9) Timber (Quest I O )

Our ~ i l l e n n i u mtargets principles 6, 7 , 8 and 9 -

suppliers to achieve a r cent achieved this stan

24 per cent of 6&Qis turnover is accounted for by timber and timber products such as wallpaper, tool handles and toilet seats, which come from over l45 suppliers in 40 countries. In 1990, B&Q embarked on research into timber to find out about forest management in the supply chain and drafted a policy. The most important part of the policy is that it applies to all timber, both tropical and temperate. During forest visits 6&Q found well-managed tropical forests and poorly managed temperate ones. In 1991, B&Q announced two targets: that by the end of 1993 it would identify all its sources of timber and that by the end of 1995 all its timber products would come from well-managed forests. &Q achieved both targets, but for the second target the company had to depend on its own process of internal scrutiny. This threw up several prob~ems and proved that a system of credible independent certification is necessary to prove to its customers that the timber sold really is from well-managed forests. This is why we set a third target:by the end of 1999, B&Q will only purchase timber-based products from forests independently certified by a certifier accredited by the Forest Stew~rdshipCouncil (FSC). The FSC is a global organisation which has set the principles of good forest management against which forest-

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intensely complex, with many issues still to be resolved, B&Q believes that indep~ndentcertification is the way forward for retailers and customers alike,

Through Q ~ E for ~ suppliers, T packaging is being reduced or omitted, material recyclability improved and post-consumer recycled content increased. As part of the overall supplier assessment process, suppliers are required to design products so that, wherever possible, they can be easily taken apart and the components recycled. For ~ x a m p l e in , 1996 S&Q decided to remove the tray from our own-label wooden toilet seat. This was made from polystyrene, which

is difficult for customers to recycle.

further advantage was that the number of ing increased from ~ ~ to0

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live paints, varnishes, wood treatments hat we have a particular responsibility to ions to the environmental problems associated with paints. In 1997, to his and other issues associated with our paint products, we introduced Paint Policy and Labelling ~ c h e m eThis . programme was launched

as the first retailerto stock rugswhich come from looms certi-

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Is the furniture designed to be easily repaired or to be discarded? Is it possible to replace worn or soiled items such as textile coverings and foam padding in chairs? If not, what are thedisposal options? Blankets can be used toprotect furniture during transportation. Your ~ a n u f a c turer should also take action to recover used packaging for recycling. ~ackagingi s expensive to dispose of, so it is in your interests tomake sure that the m ~ ~ u f a c t ~ r e r has taken steps to reduce it.

1 08

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well as standard questionsyou should ask all suppliers on policies and managementsystems,examples of thekind of questions you should be asking youroffice furniture manufacturer are:

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What are your sources of wood? Is wood purchased from independently certified, sustainably managed sources? Do youhave a wastemana~ement pro~ramme? Ro you use plastic foams, wood preservatives, formaldehyde, or solventbased lacquer? What packaging do you use? Do you have distribution initiatives to reduce environmenta~impact? Do your products have recyclable or repairable parts?

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The key e n ~ i r o n m e n tissues ~l associated with paper production and use are: 0

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loss of natural habitats to intensive tree farming; pollution from manufacture; energyusage; waste disposal; landfill and incineration.

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the UK used over l 2 million tonnes of paper and boardof which 4.7 million tonnes were made from recycled pulp from the UK and abroad, giving a recycling rate of 40 per cent.This huge market for virgin pulp means that thereis pressure on the paper industry to produce treesquickly, leading to intensive tree farming.

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The paper industry plants more trees than it chops down, but in doing so natural habitats aredestroyed to make wayfor intensive forestry. This is happening in the UK, particularly in Scotland. The majority of tree planting in the UK has taken place in the Scottish uplands and covers a signi~cantproportion of the Scottish countryside. Ploughing of deep peat for forestry in areas such as the Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland contributes to global w a r ~ i n gand destroys these unique habitats, as they are planted with conifers.Peat acts as a sink for carbon dioxide, locking the gas up chemically within its structure. When bogs are ploughed and drained, peat dries and decomposes, releasing the trapped carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Single species plantations (monocultures),especially those using exotic species, are unable to support the rangeof plant, insect, bird and mammal life found in more diverse old growth forests. onoc cultures provide one basic habitat andfood source; if a species is not adapted to that particular niche,it will not survive. The prime source of supply for European paper is Scandinavia but there has been an increasein the use of eucalyptus, predominantly from plantations in Brazil and Portugal. Eucalyptus grows eight times faster than pine, which contributes to its value for paper making, but it also has significant negative effects upon the environment, The speed of its growth is responsible for lowering the water table in many areas.As the water tablefalls, top soil dries out and becomesless compacted and is therefore more susceptible to loss through wind and flooding. Soil acidification also occurs as the trees leach nutrients from the soil, thereby decreasing its ability to supportvegetation without the addition of fertilisers. In Brazil and Portugal the spread of extensive eucalyptus plantations hasled to the loss of adequate water suppliesfor farm land, leading to the loss of crops and failed harvests, conditions which can precede drought.

Paper pulp can be bleached with chlorine gas (used to break down lignin, which is a natural gluein wood) and avariety of chemicals including hydrogenperoxide and h ~ o c h l o r i t eto achieve whiteness. The resulting effluent, called bleach liquor, has been found to contain over 300 compounds, many of which are dangerous toxins. One of the groups of compounds which cause major concern aredioxins; these are highly toxic and accumulate in the fatty tissue of fish, from where they can pass into the food chain. luent

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Wastewater effluent from pulp and paper manufacture can contain up to 1000 organic and inorganic compounds. ~ a s t organic e materials, those which can biode110

grade, are measured by biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), that is, the amount of oxygen required to break the compounds down to their constituent parts. Effluent discharges from paper mills have been foundto cause eutrophication, which occurs when anexcess of nutrients enter a water course body or and over-enrich the water. This enrichment causes an explosion in the growth of algae (blooming) which consume anyavailable oxygen and threaten plant and animallife. Algal blooms can also lead to the production of foul-smelling substances such as hydrogen sulphide and a m ~ o n i athe ; resulting water cannot be used for human consumption and can represent a threat to humanlife. The following are the major recognised indicatorsof paper mill effluent: 0

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Chemical oxygen demand (COT)): a measurement of total emissions of organic matter; the prime parameterfor emissions towater. Absorbable organic halogens (AOX): a measurement of chlorinated organics from the bleaching of chemical pulps; the secondary parameterfor emissions to water. Sulphur: the parameter used for emission to air. Sulphur is a major contributory factor to acid rain. The major source of sulphur emissions i s burning fossil fuels.

Different maximum acceptable levels for mill performance are set by the various label~ing schemes, and a number of mills have been awarded IS0 1400l . Optical brightening agents (OBAs) increase the whitenessof materials by absorbing radiant energy; when added to off-white colours, the blue-white OBAs create a brighter white appearance. OBAs have been found to be carcinogenic. Mineral loadings are added in the papermaking process to create an even surface and feel to the end product.Most loadings and coatings currently used are china clay (kaolin)and chalk (calciumcarbonate). The quarrying of such raw materials creates unsightly areas, dust and heavy traffic movement. In some areas it can also cause damage to important wildlife habitats.

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xygen bieachin

Oxygen pre-bleaching is designed to reduce the amount of chlorine bleaching necessary in the pulping process, which means fewer organochlorines are formed. Pulp is then washed and oxygen bleached several times to improve the whiteness. The oxygen used in this process can be recycled and, as oxygen is cheaper than chlorine, many mills are changing their operation. Elemental chlorine-free (ECF) and totally chlorine-free (TCF) pulp is also produced using reduced amounts of chlorine. Many mills have invested heavily in changing their bleaching processes.By improving the efficiency of the pulping process, more impurities can be removed prior to 111

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bleaching, reducing the degree of subsequent bleaching required and, therefore, the formation of organochlorines. ~ a ~ i paper n g from recycled pulp uses less energy and,if correctly sorted, nobleach as thepulp was whitened whenoriginally manufactured. The whiteness of recycled paper is achieved either by using unprinted white waste or by de-inking printed white waste paper. The de-inking process is done with detergents, water and compressed air and is not significantly polluting. hen bleaching is needed, hydrogen peroxide can be usedwhich is less ama aging than chlorine. Optical brightening agents are not usedin the production of recycled papers. ~ a s t paper e and pulp can be recycled a number of times, although 15-20 per cent of the fibres become too small to use andfall through the papermaking screens as a sludge residue. Some uses have been found for such material as a fertiliser and as a spilla~econtrol product; sludge is recycled into absorbent granuleswhich can be used to soak up hazardousspillages.

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Paper accounts for over a third of our waste, and is mainly disposed of to landfill sites or incinerators. Thereis little need for paper to be landfilled or incinerated; it can be recycled easily, will certainly reduce your disposal costs as it can represent over 70 per cent of total waste, and ven generate revenue. See C ~ a ~ t3ea~nds 7, ~ ~ Waste ~ and c ~e o ~ ~ u n i c a t i for furtherinformationonwasteand recycling.

The environmental classification of paper is a vital con side ratio^ when assessing the environmental credentialsof a particular type of paper. The terms recycled paper or e~vironmentally friendly mean very little without such c~assification. The following labelling schemes for recycled paper are in operation, but more detailed infor~ation on the content of different paper grades can be obtained from The Paper ~ederationof Great Britain. See C ~ a ~IO, t eContacts ~ and ~esources

m i n i ~ of u ~75 per cent genuine paper and board waste, which can comefrom conve~ters, printers or household and office waste.

This is a German scheme, awarding a Blue Angel label to paper which is 100 per cent recycled, of which at least 5 1 per cent is post-consumer waste. The Blue Angel Award also indicates superior environmental performance.This scheme is directed by advisory committees of academics in Germany (they also advise the German government on legislation) and has run for several years. The 11

scheme considers the materials used in manufacture, e ~ i s s i o n sene , tionanddisposalandsafetyissues in theassessment of e performance. ria have been set for copier paper and converted paper products (includi~genvelopes) to provide a recognise^ environmental standard (see Ecolabel section at the start of this chapter). Any virgin wood fibres used must come from forests where sustainable forest managementis practised.

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The objective of the White Swan label is to encourage production eth hods with ~ i n i m u menvironmental impacts. Fine papers can be made from virgin pulp or recycled fibres: it is the effect the manufacturing process has on the e n v i r o n ~ e ~ t , rather than the selectionof raw materials,which is assessed.

The term env~ronmentallyfriendly is often used for chlorine-free papers, However, chlorine is now recognised as a pollutant. There are labe~ling systems for chlorineand chlorine gas is becoming far less widely used. See O ~ g Se ~~ ~ ~ c ~ i ~ g

Pressure on natural habitats will be reduced if demand for new timber is also reduced. Reduce your usage, re-use and recycle your paper and close there loop by using recycled papers. This will also reduce the volume of waste g lan~fill/incineration.

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Demand accurate information from your paper supplier about forestry practices. Check the source of the wood pulp used. Issues outlined co~cerningforestry in the Office Furniture section of this chapter apply equally to paper. The objectives of the Forestry stewards hi^ Council scheme and the W F 95 Plus Group should be adopted as goodpractice in paper purchasing.

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It is important to ~uantify theenvironmental standards of the mill which manufactures yourpaper. It is unrealistic to be able to test these standards yourself; however, reputable paper merchants will be able to provide you with information regarding the measuresof effluent from the relevant mill; alternatively thisinfor~ationcan be sought from the mill direct. Enquire whether your paper suppliers havemills which have been awarded IS0 14001 or have an EMS in place.

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Recycled paper uses less energy, requires less bleaching and chemical use than papers produced with virgin pulp whilst also closing the recycling loop. Good quality recycled papers are widely available for use as copier, letterhead, presentation and even art and design purposes. Build in the use of recycled papers at the tender stage of all relevant tender documents and contracts- office equipment, printers and papersupply. Reduce the weight of paper used: 90 g/m paper is an alternative to 100/1 l 0 g/m for letterhead.

ct on your photocopiers when considering a suitable brand of copier paper. Check with your copier manufacturer that thepaperyouhavechosen will not contravene your service contract. Some machines may need adjusting. See C ~ a ~ t IO, e r Contacts and Resources

Maximise your use of the different textures and finishes available in recycled papers and design to that. Don’t design for virgin paper and then print on recycled! Work with your printer/designer to develop the useof recycled papers. Printing machines may need adjusting. High-quality, cost effective products are available in recycled fibre, Your choice of paper also affects its ultimate recyclability. The majority of laminated finishes cannot be recycled without the use of chemicals; therefore, we do not recommend their use. Alternative finishes such aswater-glaze are available.

Recycled papers used to beperceived as expensive. However, they are now available at prices which are competitive with virgin papers. lf your supplier appreciates that you are serious about using recycled paper and you are prepared to commit yourself to using it, you should be able to negotiate a competitive price. Be persistent? New developments in paperma~ingtechnology have made possible the production of recycled papers which comparein terms of appearance, quality and perfor~ance with virgin grades. Laser printer and photocopier guaranteed recycled papers are now common. It should be possible to match most virgin papers currently in use.

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Changing people’s attitudes to the use of recycled paper can be a major challenge but it can often be based on prejudice or a failed attempt to use recycled papers some years previously. Modern recycled papers have come a long way; though it may not look it, this bookis printed on recycled paper! 114

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Test the paper you intend to use and work with your s ~ p p l i e rSome ~. ~ a n u f a c t ~ r e ~ s andservicecompaniesblame m~chine ed paper and say that this is the w ~ r ~ a n tTest y . the paper

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e widely used in c l e ~ n i nprod ~ phosp~oric.Dilution of acids with wa reaction. Acids sh with an alkali (also u osive. I f acid is ad

Alkalis are often found in clean in^ p ing greasy deposits, paint stripping sodium ~ y d r o ~ i d e ( c a u s t i ~ s o d a ) , deca~ydrate) and bleach (see bel water but s h o not ~ ~be ~ ~~~e~ a stron~lyalkaline solutio^ h a r to ~ h u ~ a nand a n i ~ a health l (i c o ~ ~ e ~ tforr ~ t ~ d and should only bediluted with water.

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n environmental concern, butdo nothave health and safetyimplications. They are used in dishwasher powders, multi-purpose cleaning agents and scouring cleaners. ~hosphates can cause eutrophication, which occurs when an excess of nutrients (such as phosphates) enter a watercourse or body and overenrich the water. This enrichment causes an explosion in the growth of algae hich consume any available oxygen and threaten plant and animal life. can also lead to the production of f o u l - s m e l l i ~substances ~ such as sulphideand a m ~ o n i a ;the ater cannot be used for human ion and can provide a threat to human life.

has an environme~tal impact.

r own cleaning products, but it is important to establish the following:

and the en~ironmental criteriaused for product selection. The range of products should be kept to a minimum to reduce health and safety risks and administration under COSHH.

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Replace h a ~ a r d o u s ater rials with Less h a ~ a r d o u s alternativessuchaswaterbased products to reduce environmenta~ impact and health and safety risks.

Use c o n ~ e n t r ~ t erefillable s, containers and

packagingmaterialmade ater rial.

from recycled

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the resources, the people or the time to sort out their rubbish.

, as their cleaning contractor, point them in the right direction, and provide most of the answers - how many black sacks are used a ni many 1 100 litrebinsgo to II each week, sorneti vendingcups they useeac k. Theycanalso give of their bins - fri~htening: Office paper, plastic files, 5-litre plastic bottles, old IT chairwithsplitupholstery,foodwaste,andofcours cardboard boxes, card board boxes. Many customers do notrealise the cast of sending this to landfill. Monthind start by ~ a k i n ga list and then by ma kin^ suggest~ons: What can be recycled? Can someone else utilise the IT e ~ u i p ~ e n t ? What can be compacted? Can packaging be returned to the manufactu What can Monthind or the client re-use them This has to be a partnership.

To be effective, all recycling systems must be supported by the cleaners. The rs must understand the benefits in it for them, such as l better hous~keepingplus their special responsibility to the enviro Monthind, as the client's cleaning company, belong as part of rs who 'police' the process and show customers, by the process works. For systems to be sustainable l o n ~ - t e r mit is essential to c o m m i t t e ~input from the cleaners. o often recyclinsystemsareintroducedwithgreatenthusiasmand goodwill but so often this lapses - paper creeps into the general the ratio of rubbish going to land~illincreases once again - it

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material. Thereis no consenhot air dryers versus using towels; on balance, S similar. Use refuse sacks ma~ufacturedfrom

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iene products due disposable catering products to be recycled at source, that an be ~ a n u f a c t u r e dfrom recycled paper and ating of plastic which rather defeats the object is to reduce the usage of disposables and within catering which can be signed for single use, jugs where possible. C

purificati~n sy~tem is a cost-effective alternative to buyingin can produce still and spar~lingwater. This means bottles can

suitable for the play~roup (eg balloons and bunt in^).

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ncourage caterers to use the durable ~ r o ~ u cpravid ts

onsider an addition~lcharge to caterers who use disp give an added incentive. Avoid the use of individual Replace with milk jug and S aterers in advance.

n nd waste reduction measures.

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of being recycled. can be manufactured from recycled Kraft paper. This is acceptare secondarypackaging and notin direct contact with the food. se: for example, you could credit staff for returned take-away

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S e ~ i e t t eare s available manufacturedfrom recycled material.

A c o m p a ~ ywhich annually bought almost 7000 bottles of mineral water for client

use at an estimated costof E3614 decided to extend the water purification system that was already in place for staff use. The change resulted in total savings of over E 5 ~ 0 ~ .

Printwor~scomeunder local authority air pollution control under the E~vi~onmental Protection Act 1990 because of the potential for solvent emissionsto air. The Act intro~uceda new system of pollution control which recognised that emissio~s to one medium ( a i r ~ a t eetc) r can have an effect upon another. The Act of ‘prescribed processesand substances’;highly polluting indusPart A and regulated by the En~ironmentAgency via Integrated processes areregulated under local authority air pollution scribed process under Part E3 if 20 tonnes or moreof printing ink, metal coatings or 25 tonnes or more of organic solvents are used in any 1&month period.

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onmental issue associated with printing processes is the use of S . Organic solvent use gives rise to the release of VOCs, a major ozone-depletingsubstance(seeSolvents in CateringandCleaningsection). Printworks account for approximately 10 per cent of the tonnes of VOCs emitted by industry. VOC emissions arise in ~rintingfrom: inks and ink thinning, press cleaning and washi~g,pre-print press cleaning and reclamation processes and the useof alcoholbased solvents (see Table 4.1). Organic solvents are also used in other printing processes to clean ink off the presses after print runs.

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~j~c/u~es printing using rubber print on cartons ~ e ~ ~ e r ~ r e s s ~ rollers or photopolymer and labels plates on presses

based inks

~ i ~ ~ o g~r ~af ~f s~eyFlat t ~ surface process where only image areas of printing plate attract the ink Uses alcohol or waterbased fountain solution

Corporate print: VO~-formingsolventbrochures, annual based cleaning reports products Magazine and newspaper solvent in fountain production solution - Magazine printing VOC-forming solventbased inks

Gravure

Recesses on printing a cylinder are filled with ink which is then 'lifted' by contact with the paper

Long run printing VO~-formin solvent~ eg magazinesand based inks catalogues (This process is only used by a few large magazine printers who are already capturing and recycling solvent emissions)

Screen

Ink is squeezed through Posters, fabrics/ a stencil and applied to textiles the printing substrate

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Inks comprise pigments, solventsand oil. Solvent-based inksare a source of VOCs Some inks have been especially for~ulated toresist dispersion in water which can cause problems when printed material is de-inked as part of the recycling process. Pigments may also contain heavy metals such as lead, which can be harmfulto h u ~ a health n and the environ~ent.Other metals are also usedin printin sufficient quantities, these metals can be harmful to flora and fauna. Lithographic inks are traditio~ally based on mineral oils, a p on-~ene~able resource. Any product which relies on evaporation for drying purposes is a potential source of VOCs. This includes heatset, f l ~ ~ o ~ r a p hgravure ic, and screen ~ r i n t i n g inks.

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Used in lithographicprinting,fountain solutions are the largest source of VOCs. Vegetable oil-based alternatives have not sold well to date because printersfeel they do not perform as well as alcohol-based solutions. Solutions containing high boiling alcohols which do not evaporateas easily as traditionalsolutionsandthus releaseless VOCs are widely used in Denmark and Italy. Waterless litho technology, which uses high viscosity inks and results in a reduction in waste paper production andink use is widespread in the USA.

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Environmentallypreferableinksexclude heavy metals and havelow solvent content (most water-based products contain only 5-8 per cent of organic solvent). Waterbased and UV curing inks emit no VOCs, either during manufactureor when usedby the printer. Inks are alsoavailable based on rapeseedorsoyabean oil in place of mineral oil, thus maxi~izing use of renewable resources. VOC control can be avoided with the use of ~ e ~ o g r a p h iinks c formu~ated for drying using ultraviolet light. However, UV curing lamps give rise to low level ozone emissions which can cause or exacerbate respiratory illness.

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Developing good practice for the management of grounds, parks, andplaying fields promotes a strong environmental message to the public, staff and pupils. Enh the wildlife value of grounds and plants, whether indoor or outdoor, can provide a useful way of making people think about their connections with the environment. Though many offices do not have large areas of grounds, many have indoor plants and may even have small outside areas that could be enhanced with a pond or wildlife area. Encouraging wildlife value is also increasingly important to schools and local authorities; as the guardiansof areas of park, g r o u n ~and countrysi~e, they have a responsibility to develop and promote best practice.

The main environ~ental issue associated with purchasin products for grounds maintenance is chemical use. Herbicides and pesticides, i nappropriately chosen and used, can provide a major threat to plant, animal and bird species. Pesticides and herbicides can wash into water courses through surface water drainage rain and can damage both waterquality and biodiversity. The use of peat for horticulture and grounds maintenance has become an issue of major environmental concern, lowland raised peat bogs being tho most threatened at present. Many bogs, including those being actively extraction, are sites of national and international wildlife importance. peat for commercial purposes is the single biggest threat to peat bogs Groups such a s Friends of the Earth and conservation bodies su Nature have made progress in protecting sensitive areas of peat~and opportunity to reduce the t eat is to find alternatives and to encourage their use. DIY stores such as B havemadeprogressinintroducing g r o ~ i n gmedia utilising peat-free alterna and have had some success at e n c o u r a ~ i customer n~ take-upthrougheducationandcompetitivepricing.Thequality compost has grown dramatically sincethe early 1990s.~lternatives to includebarkchips,cocoashellmulch,coir(derived from coc mushroom compost and composted green waste.

Chemicals for use within grounds maintenance have become more tightly control~ed in recent years; the Control of Pesticides ~egulations1996 cover the ad~ertisement, sale, storage and use of pesticides and two statutory codes of practice under the regulations define procedures for pesticide suppliers for their safe use. They are also covered by Control of Substances Hazardous to Health ~ e ~ u l a t i o (n s~ ~ ~ H H ) 1988.

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these aims, but N impacts ~ r i sati ~ ~ waste on trust sites.

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rporatin~ ‘green’ spe~ifications,

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priate environm~nta~ inf~rmation more ~~vironmentally- inform^^

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is may also save a great deal of money; one city council spends an estimated ~ ~ 0 0 , 0 0per 0 year on grass cutting.

and bio~iversityof ground features. Never trim ly; you may be prosecuted under the ~ i ~ d l i and fe are dist~rbed. Preferably cut in ~ a n u a r y / ~ ~ b r u a r y unless there is a specific pest problem, trim every sections uncut,especially at hedge junctions. hazard, is it possible to pollard or trim rather than remove them? I f there are no standards (treeswhich are larger than the surrounding ve~etation),can some hedge plants be marked and left to grow on?

Tty working withthe County Ecologist, perhaps producing a brief management plan for the best sites (which need be no more than two pages and a map). These should

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detail the conservation work ~ ~ a n over n e the ~ f o r t h c o ~ i ~5 gto 10 year period. Sites where this extra effort willbri reatest benefits include those adjacent to naturereservesorwoodla nd historicsites,where relict flora often n in discreet corners or even on the walls of c r ~ ~ b ~ i ~ o r ~ a n i c~ e t ~ ofurther d ~ : infor~ation on orga~ic gardening can the Henr ~ o u ~ ~ e dResearch ay ~ s ~ o c i a t i See o ~ . C ~ ~ 10,~ ~t o e~ t ~~ and cts ~ e s ~ ~ ~ c e

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le for a ~ o u 50 t per cent of the UE('s annual e ~ i s s i o n sof re, your office represents a significant ~ r o ~ o r t i oofn the

ged is discussed with articular reference to

~ a s h ~ o oareas. m hich apply to the re and Special W

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n excellent o ~ ~ o r t u ntoi tinvest ~ in new

nd environ~ental ~enefits. ment control, ~ a ~ t i c u ~ina the r l ~ areas

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policy in which the use of unsustainably produced wood for your furniture requirements is banned, but has this been c o ~ m u n i c a t e dto your fabric maintenance contracto~s?Fabric ~ a i n t e n a n c ecan represent significant loopholes in your overall environmental policy. Be aware of what is purchased on your behalf! See C ~ ~ ~4, t e r ~ ~ r ~ ~ a s i n ~

E n v i ~ o n ~ e n tissues al around building ~ a i n t e n a ~ and c e utilities m a ~ a g e m e n are t discussed in the relevant subsections.

Government and industry initiatives

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Method ( ~ R ~ E A ~ ) . The environ~entalimpact of buildings can be radically reduced by the application of cost-effective technology. A certificate is provided by the BRE, based on an nt ~ssessment;builders will be able to use assessments in their publicity ~ i have ~ al record of the way in which their building has been designed according to environmenta~criteria. ~ ~ E isEa very A useful ~ mechanism for assessthe environ~entalimpact of new and existing buildin~s.

their Services guidance d o c u ~ e n pt r o ~ d e sa common language for all concerned in the ~uildingprocess: client, architect, ~uantitysurveyor, designer, services and facilities manager. The Code spans the life cycle of any building - whether c o ~ m e r c i a l , ustriai or resi~ential- from concept to demolition. It asserts that, with skill and ~ o r e s i ~e~n t~, r o n ~ e n timpact al can be reduced at little or no increase in overall cost.

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hip project between the C o n s t r ~ c t i o~~~ d u s t rResearch y and Information Association (CIRIA), the ding Research E s t a b l i s h ~ e n t(BRE) and the Building Services Research and r ~ a t i o n~ssociation(BSRIA). The forum addresses the needs of the construcindustry to respond to environ~entalissues and aims to identify o ~ p o ~ t ~ n i tfor i e innovatio~ s and promote solutions to en~ronmentalproblems.

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The legislation on ~eneralwaste is detailed in C h ~ p t 3, e ~OfJce Waste

There are a number of everyday materials which manyoffices will have for maintenance or cleaning purposes which have hazardous properties. Hazardous materials are those which in their storage or use are considered tobe pote~tiallyharmful to human health or the environment. Under the Duty of Care, all of these materials must be properly disposed of. In addition, a number of these materials are covered by the new Special Waste Regulations. The Special Waste Regulations set out theprovisions for the keeping, treatment and disposal of controlled wastes that are dangerous ordifficult to manage. Their main purpose is to provide an effective system of control that ensures that special waste is soundly managedfrom its productionuntil final destination for disposal orrecovery. They replace the Control of Pollution (Special Waste) Regulations 1980 and implement European legislation on hazardous waste. Waste is defined as ‘special’ if it appears on the European Ha~ardousWaste List and it possesses certain hazardous properties orit is a prescription-only medicine. The exception to this is that household wastes are not special. Special wastes include widely used products such as oils, lead and nickel cadmium (NiCd) batteries, acids, f l a ~ m a b l eliquids, and solvents. Those commonly used in the office are covered in more detail below. If you are dealing with special wastes you must pre-notify the local or area Environment Agency office inthe area towhich the wasteis being taken by filling in a consignment note.You must keep a copyof all consignment notes.A fee is charged for each consignment. Breaking the regulations is punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment.

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Most healthcare wastes come under theSpecial Waste Regulations, However, some may not meet the hazardous thresholds in the Regulations and in these cases the duty of care provisions of the ~nvironmental Protection Act should be followed (see Chapter 3, Office Waste). Clinical waste is defined in theControlled Waste Regulations 1992 under the Environmental Protection Act as:

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Any waste w h i c ~consists w h o l ~or art^ of h u ~ a or n a n ~ ~ tissue, a l blood or other body~uids,excretions, drugs or other p ~ a r ~ a c e ~ t i c a l ~ r o ~ u c t s , ~ being ~n swubs or dressings, or syringes, needles or other sharp i n s t r ~ts, waste ~ h i c hunless rendered safemay prove ~ a z a r d o to ~ sany ers son coming into contact with it; and 1 34

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Any other w a ~ t earisin~fro^ ~ ~ ~ i nursin~, c a ~ lent tall v e t ~ r i n a~~ h, a r ~ a c e ~ t i c aor~ s i ~ i ~ractice, ~ ~ r ~ n v e s t i ~ ~ t i torne,a t ~ e t,n care, t e a c ~ i nor~ research, or the collection of blood for t~ansfusion,being waste w ~ i c hmay cause infection to any persons c o ~ i into n ~ contact with it. (NSCA, 1999) Guidance on the treatment and management of clinical waste is given in Waste ~ a n a g e m e n Paper t No 25 available from the Environment Agency.

This forum, managed by Save Waste and Prosper (SWAP), engages in dialogue with the g o v e r n ~ e n tindustry , associations and non-governmental bodies on the future impact of waste regulations and on the national waste strategy. The information they provide focuses on household waste but is also relevant to offices.

onment require much greater control during use and disposal. They are therefore expensive. Wherever possible you should seek to u an alternative material, such a s water-based paints. See Chapter 4, ~ u r c ~ a s i n ~ To identify whether you have any materials that require disposal as special waste

you will need to follow the steps outlined in the Special Waste Regulations 1996 and the ~ e p a r t m e n of t the Environment, Dansport and the Regions Circular 6/96 (see Legislation section on page 134). The ~nvironmentAgency will also help you with any queries you have.

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In addition to the provisions of the Duty of Care for special waste, you must follow these steps:

Step 1 Before any special waste leaves your site you must pre-notify the local area ~nvironmentAgency office in the area to which the waste is being taken. This is done by completing parts A and I3 of a five-copy consignment note. Step 2 You must send one copy to the Regulator for the area where the waste is going. This must be done at least three working days, but not more than one month, before the waste is to be moved. Step 3 When the waste is removed the carrier must complete part C to the form. You must then sign part D. You must keep a copy of the consignment note and give the other three to the carrier.

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There is a fee charged by the Environment Agency for each consignment. Never pour waste oil down the drain; this is illegal as well as environmental~y damaging. ~ a s t oils e can be recycled. Oil can be re-refined into new lubricating oil, laundered and returned to the company that supplied it for re-use or cleaned to produce afuel product. Used car engineoil can be taken to anoil bank for recyclin Large quantities of waste oil, generated at sites such as a garage, should be collected by a registered contractor whowill buy it from you.

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on an impervious base. Make sure thatvalves and pipes are containedwithin the bund. Make sure that the bund has no drain which would allowoil to escape. Don’t overfill your tank; check the amount of oil already in the tank before receiving a delivery. Supervise all deliveries; stop the delivery if there are any leaks or overflows. Clearly mark all pipework to show the type of oil and where it leads, and lock all valves and gauges securely after a delivery.

Tty to stop theoil from entering any drains or watercourses using earth or sandbags to absorb it. Never hose it down. Call the Environment Agency Emergency Hotline free on0800 ~ 0 7 0 6 0 The Environment Agency’s Pollution Prevention Guidelines provide advice tory responsibilities and good practice. See C ~ f f ~IO, t eCo~tffcts ~ ancl ~ e s o ~ r c

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t waste containing halogenated solvents is special waste. This will include old paint tins that contain some waste paint.To minimise your special wast should purchase water-based paints. Some decorative paints now have a label indicating their solvent content; for example, B &L Q label all their paints with the solvent content. See C ~ f f ~4, ~~ e~r r c ~ f f s i ~ ~

Lead, mercury dry cells and NiCd batteries arecovered by the special waste requirements. For other batteries large quantities should not be concentrated in disposal but diluted with other wastes. The normal Duty of Care procedures should also be followed.

If staff are not aware of an authorised disposal route for special wastes, they will end up in the general wasteor hidden in a store room.Ensure all staff are aware of

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the correct procedures for dealing with special waste and who they should contact with any queries. on tractors have been known to leave difficult and special wastes on site to avoid the cost of disposal. Ensure that proof of correct disposal for all materials is written into contractual agreements. Storage areas and workshops tend to be a haven for old chemicals, solvents and other maintenance materials. Ensure these areas are cleared out periodically and obsolete materi~lsdisposed of correctly. Risposing 1 waste in bulk will save money, but do not wait until storage becomes a hazard.

Your choice of office equipment m~nufacturerand servicing contractor has important implications for your environmental, and health and safety policies. The main environmental concerns are emissions of ozone and dust during operation end of life disposal of the ~ a c h i n eand component parts. S y ~ ~ t o m of sindoor air pollution caused by laser printers and photocopiers include headaches, catarrh and an unpleasantly dry working environ~ent.The dry wor~ingenviron~entis exacerbated by high room temperatures. nd printers rely on high voltages to make the toner powder stick temporarily to a print drum, before its transfer to paper. This process generates ozon laser ~rintersand copiers have a built-in filter to extract the ozone from the exhaust fumes. They contain activated carbon to break down ozone and, when new, reduce ozone to well below the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) levels. ow ever, when inadequately maintained or used in small rooms, these machines can release dan~erousamounts of ozone.

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Dust is given off by aper and toner. The amount of dust from the toner varies from ~ a c h i n eto machin and is also dependent on the ty e of paper used. Copiers can give off electrostatical~ycharged toner dust; this can causeirritation in the respiratory tract when inhaled. Carbon particles in toner usedin photocopiers aren o r ~ a l l y no smaller than 0.005 mm, making them too large to cause bro~~chial disorders. However, carbon particles used in toner for laser printers and colour photocopiers are smaller than O . 0 0 ~mm. If these particles are inhaled they can be hazardous to cturers must produce (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) with details on the components, the health hazards associhowtonershould be handled. This includesspecial re~uirementsfor exposure control. VDUs emit various types of radiation. A significant proportion of the radiation consists of pulsed EMFs (electromagnetic fields) of between 15 kHz and pulsed 50

kHz fields. The exposure to electrical fields and the expected damage to the operands on the strengthof the fi cl, the distance from the field source and the expos~resover a longperi of time. Headaches, irritability, tiredness and skin c o ~ p l a i n t scan result from this static electricity,

tocopiers should be located in a specific, well-ventilated room. I f large ~uantitiesof printed material are produced, extractor fans should befitted on the machinery, and the air conducted directly out of the buil~ing.

Make sure copiers are fitted with filters and make sure thatfilter changing is included in the service agreement. In areas of poor ventilation or heavy usage, s u ~ p l e m e n t a ~ e fitted. They are more powerful and remove ozone, toner and paper dust from the laser printer and clean the office air in the i m ~ e d i a t evicinity. Ensure correct handling of toner under COSHH and obtain detailed assessments from the manufacturer. Use toner with minimal hazardous materials (details will be on the COSHH sheets) to minimise health and safety risks. Use disposable gloves when rep~acing toner; clean up anyspilt toner and wash your hands thoroughly. Use protective cloth in^ and possibly a mask when replacing loose toner (plan to change over to cartridges).Toner must not smudge or be released into the surroundings. Research by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space A~ministration)found that up to 87 per cent of poisonous toxins found in office ~uildings canbe absorbed with 138

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of plants. By breathing in carbon dioxide ove the air quality in an office by ~ r o v i d i is found to be particularly effective? system. ~ o t h e ~ - i n - l a wtongue ’s

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ipment ~ e g u l a t i o ~ workstation design and operation considers health and tant to consider the positioning of visual display units ( their highest at the sides, rear and tops of VDU terminals, ra Therefore the number oE hours at a terminal may not be a reli exposure. Ideally, operators should not work within one metre of of adjacent VDUs unless the m~chineshave been tested and c o n f i r ~ e low levels of non-ionising radiation. ~ o r k s t a t i o nassessments out for any employees spending over 25 per cent of their workin

Machine rooms are often run unmanned; therefore, false ceilings and windows may not be necessary. Fewer b u i l ~ i ~materials g are needed and valuable, ~ a t u r ~ llit l yoffice space can be kept for employees~

d Ensure adequate ventilation in the office, particulariy printing and photocopying

Lighting can be arranged in blocks so that it can be switched on where needed and left off elsewhere. Note that vertical illumina-

tion may be necessary for maintenance purposes. The cable m a ~ a g e m e n tsystem should be flexible to accommodate changes in machines. Flexibility is also needed in power distribution and c o ~ m u n i ctaion cable systerns. very

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d Arrange office equipment to avoid prolonged exposure to photocopiers print erst computers and VDUs d Take breaks from your VDU I

quality in the office d Carry out workstation assessments according to

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~ a c h i n rooms e generate a lot of heat. This can be recovered to help heat the remainder of the ~uilding.There needs to be s ~ f f i c i ~filtered nt fresh air to pressurise the machine room to prevent the ingress of contaminants (dust, for e x ~ ~ p l e ) .

d Save office space and energy by maximising the efficiency of mainframe computer

Power-saving devices should be fitted for maximum efficiency. They can be used to make sure that only those machines which are necessary to run the system remain on at all times. This will conse~uentlyreduce power demands and heat generation. Clearly label which machines have to stay on for 24 hours and turn the others off when possible.

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alon flooding e~uipment hasbeen installed as fire protection in c o ~ p u t e rooms. r Under the Montreal Protocol halon productionhas been phased out since it is a very powerful ozone depleter. M acceptable alternative is the use of a r system, with an automatic cut-off of electricity in an emergency, or passive detection, for example, smoke alarms.See Fire ~~otection later in thisc h ~ ~ t e ~

Most organisations contract out the fabric maintenance of their ~uildingts). I ~ p l e ~ e n t i nsound g environmental controls can reduce costs and make sure your e ~ v i ~ o ~ m e nposition tal is not weakened by your subcontractors.

Plaster~oardi s manufactured from gypsum. The ~ u a r r ~ i nofgraw materialsdestroys areas of the countryside, damages wildlife habitats and creates dust and heavy traffic ~ o v e m e n t s . Indust~ialgypsum can also be used in plasterboard. This i s produced in power stations ~uring the desulphurisation process;activity in this process may cause c o n c e ~ t r a t i o nof~ heavy metals to build up. There is concern that the resulting material^ may have health risks. l issue with paint and varnishes is their use of solvents.

be replaced by low-solvent or water-based alter~atives. ‘nfor~ationon the e n v i r o n ~ e n issues t ~ ~ of so~vents

o hazardous in disposal and come under the Special

~ ~ o u ~~0 n d million batteries are used in the U K every year. Chemical reactions continue in old batteries that can result in hazardous metals leaching into the

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environment causing adverse effects to h u ~ a n and s wildlife and vegetation damage. Wet batteries containing both lead and acid can be particularly ~ a m a ~ i ifn d~sposed g of in an uncontrolled way. Batteries used to contain low levels of toxic metals, particularly mercury. This has been almost e~iminatedfrom batteries since I NiCd and lead acid batteries can be recycled; there are currently no facil recyclin~other batteries. See C~~ffpter 4, ~ u r c ~ f f s i ~ ~

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The biggest oil i~cidentshave been spills by tankers such as the Sea ~ ~ ~ roffe the s s coast of Wales in 1996. However, small ~uantitiesof oil can also cause major damage to watercourses and groundwater if i t is spilt or disposed of inappropriately. Oil forms a film on the surface of rivers and lakes that makes it di~ficultfor fish to breathe by reducing the amount of oxygen in the water. Just 5 litres of oil can cover and poison a small lake. Oil will also coat animals and plants that come into contact with it. or unsustainable sources should not be used. Use tim suppliers accredited by the Forest ~tewardshipCouncil (FSC) where possib ~ o f t ~ o toi dm ~ e r sand t e ~ p e r a t ehardwoods are considered to be from sustainable sources; in the case of tropical hardwoods you should be able to de~onstratethat the timber comes from a we~l-managed,sustainable source. See C ~ ~ p t 4, er ~ u r c ~ f ffor s imore ~ ~ /i ~ f o r ~ f f on t i os ~o ~ r c~i ~ o~pro~ucts o ~ Plywood should not contain tropical hardwoods or wood from unknown or unsustainable origins. Ensure your contractor can supply i~formationon the species of wood used in the p l ~ o o dand country of origin.

The practical action outlined below is equally applicable to new construction, everyday maintena~ceand refurbishment p r o g r a ~ m e swhere the ~uantityof ~ ~ t e r i a l s both pu~chasedand disposed of is substantia~. Make sure e ~ v i r o n ~ e ~and t a lenergy efficiency criteria are considered in tion of t ate rials on-site. ~efurbishment~ r o g r a ~ m e~ sr o v i d ean opportunity to develop environmental purchasing objectives. In the case of a large refurbishment ~ r o ~ r a m mthere e , will be a structured tender process: environmental criteria should be built in at the tender stage. For example, specify water-based rather than solven t-based paints. This reduces the environ~entalimpacts of your activities and avoids potential disposal problems. extended to subcontractors. See C ~ f f ~4, ~~ eur r c ~ ~ s i ~

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materials often end up in the skip due to lack of storage space.There may also be scope to reduce the quantities of materials ordered to m i n i ~ i s ewastage. Efficient roject planning and choice of mate 1s can facilitate re-use. For example, paint from staging builders Andy ight Ltd were re-used by the charity ~oundationfor Human Devel entduringrefurbishment, ly going into the skip to signifle raw materials from landfill. ally these will be timber, metals, furniture and carpets. There are a numberof or~anisations thatwill take obsolete materials; contact local charities and the ails. Waste mini~isationclubs such asWaste Alert (London)will often be able to help match materials to charities and other businesses. For example: 50 exhibitionquality carpets were collected fromWaste Alert ~ ~ ~ Allframes b e r andre-used by the ~oundationfor ~ u m a nDevelopment. The carpets weighed app~o~imately 1.3 tonnes and saved Allframes over ~ 6 0 in 0 disposal costs.

actors are complying with the Duty of Care Regulations, Special Waste Regulations and COSHH on your behalf. This includes the disposal of hazardous andspecialwaste. Check thetraining procedure of the supplier: theenviron~ental controls need to be understood at all levels of the o r ~ a n i s a t i oSee ~. ~ ~ Waste, ~ ~ ~ c~ t c~ tcpage ~a u~135 ~ ~

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Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochloro~uorocarbons(HCFCs used as refrigerants and are needed to operate many e x ~ s t i nrefri ~ condition in^ systems. though owners of refrigeration plant have ensure that CFCs and HCFCs are not released into the a t ~ o s p h e r ethey , can escape through leakage or during maintenance. Even i f you have a pro~erlyin m a i n t a i ~ e dsystem, you could still lose your refrigerant through a c c i d e ~ tor e ~ u i ~ m efailure. nt It is vital that you f o r ~ u l a t ea strategy to achieve a smooth, chan~e-overto non-CFC and HCFC refrigerants and comply with exist legislation.

1 was ratified by 60 countries, w themselves to reducing the production and use of o % o n e - d e p ~ e t ~ n ~ as CFCs and halons. The production of CFCs was banned in i994 lion (June 2000) bans the use of CFCs (being principally R1 1, R12 the end of 2000. In addition the ~ a n u f a c t u r eof HCFCs (princip b a n ~ e dby 2008. lacements for CFCs the product R134a is a r e a s o ~ a b l eco~sideration on application. The replacements for R22 are general Oa. Contact the ~ e p a r t ~ e of n tTrade and 1 ~ d u s t r yor Users Group for more infor~ation.

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CFCs are o % o n e - d e ~ l e t ichemica~s n~ and potent ~ r e e n h o ~ gase se years, scientists have realised that CFCs are dest~oyingthe stra layer that protects the earth’s surface from ultraviolet radiatio~.In let light near the e rth’s surface can increase the i n c i ~ e n c eof damage plants, animals and whole ecosystems. The manufacture and import of new CFCs was banned in the ~ ~ r o p ~e nai ~o n on 1 January 1996. Less developed countries need to phase out by 2010.

HCFCs are also o~one-depletingsubstances but have one-twentiet~of d ~ p ~ e t i opotential n (ODP) of CFCs. They are being used as transitiona~ to replace CFCs. The widely used refriger~ntR22 is an HCFC and i s still ~ a n ~ f ~ c tured. HCFCs currently are due to be phased out in 2015. Usage in new s y s t e ~ s should therefore be avoided. 1

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Hydro~uorocarbons(HFCs) have zero ODP However, these chemicals are very powerful global warming gases; HFC 134a has a global warming potential ( 0 ) of 1300. HFCs are only a m e ~ i ~ ~ -option t e r ~and were bannedin some refrigeration e ~ u i p ~ eafter n t 1999.

any, funded by its members - any therefore have to operate within the database and library of information d members are kept ant issues t h r o u ~ hregular newslett

eed to have a strategy for retrofitting your e~uipment or replacing it with new e~uipment.

ed standards of ~aintenance,minor e ~ u i p ~ e ~ t ~ o ~ i f i ctices can substantial~y reduce losses of refri ce is the common reasonfor coolant escaping into the rant pumps and leak detection s y s t ~ for ~ s new build or

environmental criteria: Zero ODP Zero or very low GWP Energy effici~nt. r o p a n ~andbutane meet all these criteria.

Halons are extremely efficient fire-fighting agents, the most popular bein chemically as Halon 12 1 1 and 130 1, or known by their trade names as BTM respectively. They are used in portable systems in green and s o m e t i ~ e red s hand-held extin~uishersand wheeled units, or in fixed installatio~ssuch as computer rooms.

Halons deplete the ozone layer at a rate 16 times faster than CFCs.

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revision of the ~ o n t r ~Protocol al in C o ~ e n h a ~ einnN o v e ~ b e r1992 banned the production and import of new halon at the end of 1993. Under new l e ~ ~ s l ~ t(June ion 2000) halons are banned for use after 31 December 2002,The le that installed systems using h lon are fully decom~issionedby 3 You will not be able to use h on for topping up or ~ a i n t e n a n c e December 2002. Some of the information in this section is based ~ a Phase ~ Oul: ~ ~n ~ voni A~~ t e~ r n a l i and v ~ s ~ u i ~ e ~Users. ~ ~ Contact e s ~ the ~ rDT1 for further information.

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The Halon Users National C o n s o r t i u ~Limited (HIUNC) is an i n d e p ~ ~ ~none~t, profit-making or~anisationwhich was set up by halon users and the fire industr~ with the support of government. HUNC’s aim is to ensure that the existing stocks are safely m a n a ~ e ddown to zero. They will advise on: how to dispose of and recycle halons; where to find recycled halon to keep critical systems operating; alternatives to halon.

Reassess your continued use of halon and switch to an a~ternativeor re agent if possible. Consider the following issues when selecting an alternative to halon~: 1

tively and, since production ceased, recycling has ply. ana age your own stock or bankby topping ned and reclaimed halon. However, this is an

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D e is colourless, odourless and clean.As its density

ding system it will quickly take over the oxygen in ely difficu~t. Carbondioxide takes up more room be needed) and works by provi~inga blanket of en to a point where combustion is no longer possible. however, when an area is occupied it needs a1 setting your company needs to haveexcelthe system to be set so evac~ation cantake place

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fixed fire protection. Do not use this system on ~ a m m a b l eliquids. Compared to halon, water is ry may be subject to some damage. Since the appli~ationrate is less than that e possible is avoided, making it ed on ~ a m ~ a blil e ces such as reactive metals.

high ~xpansionfoams act by forming a barrier between fire and

en. They are not effective against running or spray fires. Foam

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can be destroyed by some liquid fuels (alcohol, for example) by chemical reaction, so make sure the right foam is chosen.

tinguishment, but provide very little coolin powder has settled it becomes ineffective. There are different powders s u i t a ~ l efor different applications. All types of powder are unpleasant to breathe and are not recommended for occupied areas. They also settle after use and add to the post-fire clean-up. This is a method of fighting fires manually with extinguishers~hose reels or by the Fire Brigade with the i~troductionof a highly sensitive smoke detection system.

These are direct alternatives to halons that are electrically on-conductive and leave no residue. They fall into two categories: inert gas systems and ~ a l o c a r ~ o n gas agents. When considering these you should seek further informatio~from the British Fire Protection Systems Association who produce a code of p r a ~ t i c efor gaseous fire ~ g h t i n gsystems (BFPSA, 1995) Inert gas systems are natural gases from natural sources. They have zero OPP and no global warming potential. Inert gas systems include: Argonite, Inergen and argon. See Table 5.1.

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d Advise your insurance company that you intend to change your fire fighting

~ydrofluorocarbons(HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) have an important role in fire fighting. They do not harm the ozone layer and are not therefore covered by the Montreal Protocol. These gases are, however, powerful greenhouse gases. They s ~ o u ~therefore d only be used where careful analysis shows them to be the best a1t ernative .

u' Maximise use of existing

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Minimise leakage in your current system and undert a ke reguI a r maintenance

147

FM-200

Heptafluorobut~ne Trifluoropr~~ane Argon, nitroge~ Argon, nitrogefl, carbon dioxide Argon

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asters such as oil spills and the threat of global arming and n are rarely considered to e an office issue; however, these and impacts of energy use are someof the key environmental issues tion, generation and use of energy can all have a major impact the office can ~ r o ~ i dane irnrne

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t of i r n ~ o r t e d n o n - r ~ n e ~ afuels b l e such as oil in particula~ can cause serious and long ~ ~ off the ~ coast e of s~ a 1 2~s ave caused enormous darn eir own associated environ

il and coal are burnt to produce electricity or heat,

bon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and atrnosphere. These emissions are majorco~tribuuse gases. Only one-third of the energy from the er station as useful energy. bon dioxide, methane, nitrous This blanket allows the sun’s d back from the earth escapglass in a greenhouse. These

gases are a natural phenomenon, and without their effect the Earth woul uninhabitable. While the greenhouse effect is a natural and essential condition, emissions human activities are increasing the concentrations of sever lar carbon dioxide and m e t ~ a n e ~. c i e n t i s t scannot yet u effect this increase in gases will have on our weather and by the ~nternationalPanel on Climate Change (IPCC) conc evidence suggest that there is a d i s c e r ~ i ~hl eu ~ a in n ~ ~ e ~ c e Panel ~ a r n that s if current trends persist we may see a w degrees Celsius by 2100, Climate change on this scale impact. For example, the ris in sea level could flood London. Direct energy use and emissions from business, inclu ation that powers business and business transport, acco UK greenhouse gas emissions. o n average 100 m2 of tonnes of CO, each year. educing these emissions is challenge of climate change.

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A~idi~cation, sometimes referred to a s acid rain, is caused by e m i s s i ~ ~ s dioxide (~02), nitrogen oxides (NO,) and a ~ m o n i a The . major sources o NO, emissions are the burning of fossil fuels and tr~nsportres~ectively; causes local acidification, mostly as a result of farming t e c h ~ i ~ ~~ec si d. i f i c ~ tof io~ soils results in loss of plant n u t r i e ~ t s thre~tening , the long-te forests. Dee damage and poisoned lakes are widesp~eadin nort becomes more corrosive to a variety of materials i ~ c l u d i which can cause damage to piping systems and may be a acid rain’s main effect is building corrosion. A number of measures are being used to reduce th gases from the UK. The UK is committed to reduce sulp 1980 levels) by 80 per cent by 2010. Cars fitted with thr emit 70-90 per cent less NO, than those w i t h o ~ tSimila . tion plants can be reduced by 90 per cent using current tech~ology.

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ur electricity is generated throu h the use of n ~ c l ~ a r Although nuclear power does not contribute to the g legacy of radioactive waste that will be p o t e n t i a ~Lethal l ~ for t h o u s a ~ d of s years. costs associated with managing this risk have contributed to m a ~n ui c l~e ~~po r uneconomic and no new power stations are planned in the U

Government and industry initiatives This DETR and TI-funded programme provides impartial, ~uthoritativeinfo~ma1

tion on energy efficiency techniques and technologies in industry and buildings. This information is disseminatedthroughpublications,videosandsoftware, together with seminars, workshops and other events.

The Government has recently relaunched its ‘Corporate Commitment, campaign. The aim is to stimulate organisations in both the private and public sectors to do their bit in the national drive to greater sustainability. Top management will be encouragedto publicly commit to specific self-declared targets for improving performance in those aspects of their operations that have significant impacts. Improved performance might be in one or more areas; for example, waste, water consumption, emissions,energy, or transport. Those wanting help in meeting their commitmentswill be encouraged to take full advantage of the free and impartial advice from the govern~entrs best practice programmes as well as help from other sources.

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The Climate Change Levy will apply to the energy bills of all UK businesses and public sector organisations from April 2001. The levy aims to encourage re~uctions in the useof non-renewable formsof energy as well as providing support for energy efficiency and renewable energy generation (including wind, solarand tidal power). The Levy in 2001 will be charged as follows:

0.43p/kWh 0.1 5p/kWh LPG 0.0 7plkWh E~emptionswill include certain forms of ‘renewable’ energy (including wind, solar, tidal and electricity from waste) somecombined heat and power plants, natural gas in ~ o r t h e r nIreland and other energy used in certain industrial processes. However, most organisations can make savingsby improving energy efficiency and therefore reducing their energy use. There will be an Enhanced Capital Allowances scheme which will allow companies to claim back tax against 100 per cent of the costs of plant and mac~inery thatmeet energy efficiency criteria, for one year. This scheme will initial~yinclude boilers, pipe insulation, lighting and refrigeration systems, with all ’eligible’ products placed on the UK Energy Technology List (available after ~ o v e m b e2000 r at ~ . e c a . g o v . u k ) . ~lectricity Gas and coal

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1 50

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Environmental and cost concerns have driven the development of, and increasing number of, alternative energy sources. This chapter discusses the main types of commercially viable energy sources but is not exhaustive. Co~tactthe C ~ n t r e f o ~ e rContacts and Resources ~ t e ~ n a t i~v ee c ~ nfor o more ~ o in ~f o ~ ~ a t-isee o ~~ h a ~ t10,

Consumers can make dramatic improvements in their environment~lp e r f o r ~ a n c e through considerate energy purchasing. Technologies such as wind, solar and wave power do not use non-renewable resources and have no emissions of carbon dioxide or other air pollutants. Combined heat and power plants make use of the by-product of conventional electricity generation (heat) to feed heating systems for buil~ingsor directly for industrial processes, resulting in high levels of efficiency and reduced carbon dioxide emissions.

Government and industry initiatives Future Energy accredits electricity tariffs which support or invest in electricity from the full range of renewable energy sources. Exacting criteria are applied and the checking process is carried out by the independent governmen t-backed organisation, the Energy Saving Trust. The government is encouraging the development of alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power through the Non Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO). Under the NFFO-5 order, electricity suppliers in England and Wales are required to enter into contracts with renewable energy developers.

Generating your own power from renewable sources will require capital investment, but the payback can be impressive. Keep abreast of ever i ~ p r o v i n gtechnology and always consider renewables when specifying energy supply for new buildings or major extensions. For example: The viewing gallery of the former ~ ~ a~ es r a~ l ~o ~ building in Glasgow has been transformed into a 'zero-energy ' building experiment with a host of r e n e w a ~ l eenergy genera tion technologies includin~photovoltaic solar panels and wind turbines. Rather than relying on large wind or solar farms, the concept is that buildings should carry enough generating capacity to supply the bulk of their own needs. 151

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celebrated its 125th anniversary in 1997 and at the theintroductionof a ~ a r t n e r s h i papproach, which rmance in line with the bank’s ethical and environmenank has approximy 1.75 million customers and nership Report in 1

after just one year. n, ~ ~ n c h e s t and er erated from an east d wit h hydro~elect ric tockport is supplied by a bulk of electricity forthese

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Passive solar design uses the form and fabr from the sun and so reduce the building’s ne 2 Active solar heatin mploys solar collector capture and store sun’s heat via water storage systems and us primarily for water heating. 3 I?hotovoltaiccells involve the direct conversi electricity by means of specially ~ r e p a ~ se d cells are arran~edin panels on the roof or e 1

power is now cheaper than coal or nuclear power in the U over 400 wind turbines generating power for the grids, while rn produce electricity for local use, The British win^ Energy 10 per cent of the c o u ~ t r y ’ selectricity to be windwindy climate is ideal for wind power but resist~ncefrom local pollution is common. There is potential to develop wind farms a technology. ctri

Electrical power can be derived from water in three ways: 1

2

3

Hydro-power devices rely on falling water to generate electricity by a l ~ o ~iti ~ g to pass through specially designed water turbines; the ~ o d e r nversion of the traditional water wheel. Tidal power stations generate electricity by capturing the water of tidal rise and passing it through turbines. Wave power devices are designed to absorb the energy of the w ~ v e s .

Tidal and wave power are not cornmercially available at projects are continually assessing the viability of these methods.

tion, is set to play a major role carbon dioxide reduction strategies. over 1300 CHP installations in the U CHI? is a rowing sector, one which the EC hopes to double by 20 10. CHI? makes use of the heat that is produced in electricity generation (from most fuels) heating systems for buildings or directly for industrial processes. in the process is recovered to heat water w h i c ~is then use site, High levels of ~fficiencyand reduced carbon dioxide e CHP i s not cost effective in all b ~ i l d i n ~ and s needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis. CHP plants are ~articularlysuited to sites re~uiringyear-rou~ demand such as ~ u r s i n ghomes, hotels, leisure centres and 2 4 - ~ o ~~~r o d u c t i o n sites. *

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For example, the BBC has installed a CHP scheme atTelevision Centre in London which is predicted to reduce annual emissions by 12,553tonnes.

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Greenenergypurchasing is gainingan increasingly high profile within business. When combined with an effective energy efficiency policy, purchasing ‘green energy’ maximises the contribution a business can make to achievethe UK’s CO reduction targets. See ha pier 4, ~ u r c ~ ~ Most energy suppliers are ffering options to buy electricity from renewable or‘green’sources.Therearetwomain payment options: 0

The amount of energyyoupurchase each year is matched by your energy supplier ’s purchases from renewable sources. You pay into a fund to support future investments in renewable energy.

in running office buildings. y is thelargestcontrollableoutgoing tion, and th~refore cost, can be reduced by at least 10 per cent at no cost. With inve~tment,further reductions are achievable. Energy can be saved in many ways.

~ o ~ ~ a noften i e ssee energy efficiency as purely a technical problem; however, the key to efficient energy use is good management. The aimof energy ~ a n a g e ~ eisn t to ~ i n i m i s ecost while maintaini~ghigh standards of service. It is important to give responsibi~ityfor e ~ e r manage g~ men^ to a named person who can coordinate your approach.

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To encoura~esenior ~ a n a g e m e n commitment t you need to present the business 1 54

case by establishing the energy costs. Find out what you paid for all your energy sources over the previous year. This may come as a shock. A good way of hi~hlighting the costs is to relate the savings of a small reduction in energy costs to the equivalent increase in sales that would have the same impact on the bottom line.

calculations can be obtained from your fuel bills. These should cover at least a full year and be the actual cost, not an estimate by the utility company. If your bills are quarterly or based on estimates, arrange for monthly meter readings. A lot can be learnt just from looking at the monthly pattern of fuel use, It is essential to establish your baselines from which to work. As a rule, use total annual cost; annual costs per mz (treated floor area) and annual cost per member of staff. You may also wish to record the p r o ~ o r t ~ oofnyour energy supply sourced through a 'green tariff Peated floor area (TFA) is the gross floor area (total area inside external walls) excluding plant rooms and other areas not heated (eg stores, covered car parks and roof spaces). Ideally it should be measured, but an estimate of treated floor area multiplying the gross floor area by 0.9. ble 5.2 to calc~lateyour energy costs per square metre of treated st offices electricity bills are higher than gas or oil and usage often varies more widely than fossil fuel use. It is therefore essential that you consider electricity and fossil fuel use separately. Calculate your energy costs per member of staff. See ~ ~ a ~9,t~e ~r v i r o ~ ~ e ~

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to be made by changing to the right should be reviewed to ensure you are ilding's needs. For example, a growth in use need to remain switche~ on overni~ht will use rates more economical. lar continued meter in^ of your . This information will help you to ill also allow you to monitor and enior ~ ~ n a ~ e and m estaff ~ t so as to build commitment to nalysis of energy c o n s ~ m ~ t i ocan n be carried out by, for ting use to weather or degree-~ays. or further in~ormation ciency Best Practice Programme (EE

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people what they know, think and suggest about your use of e n e r ~ yand how they could contrib~teto reducin~it. Agree objectives, targets and monitoring duties with your staff. ~ 7, Give incentives rewards, feedback on results and thanks. See C ~0~~

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it can take up to half the energy a prnent as i t takes to run the equip d in some cases c

Reducing the t e ~ ~ e r a tof~ ra eroom by o egree can cut the heati m ~ c as h I 0 per cent. Check that thermosta positioned and set cor degrees). Fit tamper-proof t h e r ~ o s t a t sif n e c e s ~ a r yTurn ~ off eating in u n u s e ~ rooms. Avoid the use of electric heaters. Make sure that heating is off or reduced outside work switches to vending ~ a c h i n e and s other a~propriate in places not in constant use. Consider using therrnostatic radiator where o c c ~ p a n varies c ~ and e n s u r ~all radiators are

ay timer controls in areas

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All windows and outside doors should be closed when heating is on. Install auto ma ti^ door-closure devices on external doors to cutdown heat loss. an

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The insulation of the loft, boilers and pipes will help prevent heat loss. The most i ~ p o r t a n pipes t to wrap are the hottest ones and the ones in the coldest places. Draught-proofing can prevent heat loss from roofs, doors and walls. Carry out the penny test: is there more than a penny’s width gap beneath your door? If so, draught-proof it.

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Hot water is often too hot and needs to be mixed with cold water before use. The thermostat should be turned down to amini mu^ of 60 degrees. Any lower than this can increase therisk of Legionnaires’ disease. rs

Condensing boilers use a large heat exchanger to recover heat from flue gases, offering a 10 per cent gain in efficiency. New boiler(s) you install should be of the condensing type.

Minimise areas of air-conditioning by using mechanical or natural ventilation. You do not need toprovide air-conditioning for all areas of your office. Most people like to be able to opentheir window. Air-conditioned buildings use about twice as much energy as natura~ly ventilated buildings.

ate is fre~uentlycalculatedusing m ~ ~ i power ~ u mdemand figures. This gives a distorted figure since it is based on the peaks of energy use rather than an average figure. This leads to many buildings being over-specified in terms of air-conditioning needs. See OfJce ~ ~ ~ i ~ m section ~

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Any need for ai^-conditioning outside office hours will only be for small areas of your office. S

Do not set the air-conditioning to come on before the temperature gets to at least 24 degrees. Even a slight increase in temperature setting can give a substantial reduction in your energy bills.

158

ouse is the head office for Reed usiness l n f o r ~ a t i o n a, major magazine publisher with approximately 150 titles. The building is a larg conditioned office built in 1 ~ 8 0housing , 1500 staff.

rge-scale projects have been undertaken over a number of years to reduce energy consumption. A building energy management system is used to monitor plant operation, air-conditioning, and chiller use and then adjust time programmes and control operation to ensure pumps, fans and cooling towers operate only when needed and use of the main chillers is restrict Originally, lights were controlled from a large switch panel in the and many lights were left switched on unnecessarily. An a u t o ~ a t i control system now schedules lights to go off at periods throu The system was programmed to turn perimeter lights off at 1 when daylight was sufficient and to switch internal lights off ho Any adverse reaction from the lights going off was dealt with local lighting controls in each zone. Ligh~ingin overlit areas h by arranging for two out of three fittings to be lit in the day three at night. Decorative tungsten lights in the restaurant and reception areas were replaced with lower wattage bulbs and 2000 office light fittings in Quadrant House were modified from 2 x 85 watt fluorescent tubes to a single 70 watt triphosphor tube with a high frequency fixed-out~utballast and specular refiector fitted to ach. The result of this measure alone was a reduction in t lighting energy c~nsumptionin excess of 50 per cent and increased ~ i g h levels. The funding required for these improvements was generated throu centralised energy management contract.

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As a result of these changes in energy management, electricity ons sump ti on has been reduced by 15 per cent and gas consumption by 67 per cent. These measures reduced carbon dioxide emissions (CO, per square metre) from the building by 27 per cent.

159

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mern~erof staff.

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energy costs and carbon dioxide emissians r/ Motivate staff by involving them in the project and providing feedback on

they are needed and at th most efficient temperatures I/ Investigate energy saving technologies such as condensing boilars r / Set targets for improvem~n~ and review your progress

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energy efficiency you need to make an effective presentation of the business cas This can be more powerful if you have had succe tives before looking to the board for support.

ctions o u t ~ i n ~ind this section require little or no i have no capital at the start, use the r e t ~ r non~ the lo i n v e s t~ent.This will enable a c o m ~ r e h e n s i ~energy e man~gedwith no initial f u n ~ i n ~ . Few people are excited by en e n c o ~ r ~ gtheir i n ~ ideas and r

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Inefficient lighting systems use moreenergy. This contributes toacid rain and global warming. You can save significant amounts of energy and money sim ducingmore efficientlighting. Your choice of lightingcanalso affectstaff productivity levels. ~pproximately~ 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0fluorescent tubes are disposed of annually in the UK. Fluorescent tubes contain mercury, cadmium and lead. See ~

~3, Oflice a Waste ~ t ~ ~ If every household in the UK replaced one conventional 100 watt lightbulb with

one 20 watt compact fluorescent bulb, the nation would save all the electricity generated by one large power station (NatWest Group, 1997)

The standard tungsten bulb isvery cheap to purchase but hasa short life span and is very inefficient in its use of energy. Ttmgsten bulbs produce light by passing an electrical current through a fine wire filament, which becomes ‘white hot’. Ninetyfive per cent of this light is turned into heat, which can add to the workloadof an air-con~itioning system.Long usage results in brittle filaments which break due to vibration or heat expansion when the light is turned on. d to replace tungsten spotlightsfor desk and display lighting with about 50 per cent.

CFLs are a relatively new form of lighting which use about 20-25 per cent of the electricity for a similar conventional lighting level. Their initial cost is higher but they last up to eight times as long as tungsten bulbs and are now commonfor stic and office use. These lamps are not suitable for use in passive infra-red fittings or in circuits using dimmer switches.

Fluorescent tubes are widely used in offices. They use about 18 per cent of the electricity of a tungsten bulb and less energy than CFL. a Fluorescent lamps produce light by a~plyingelectrical energy to either endof a tube containing inert gas plus a little mercury, creating an electrical arc. This method of lighting is more cost- and energy-eff~cient than tungsten lighting and fluorescent tubes producevery little heat compared to lamps.The useful life span of fluorescent lamps is approximately 7500 hours. Control gear is necessary for ~uorescenttubes to startup and maintain light output and modernelectronic controls are becoming increasingly efficient.

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are thinner in diameter (26 m) and shorter than standard fluorescent tubes. With the reduction in size they produce an instant saving in the amount of energy re~uiredto give off light. Replacing standard fluorescent tubes with slimline fluorescent tubes will produce ap~roximately8 per cent energy savings.

r flu These tubes last longer and are more energy efficient that a standard fluor~scent tube particularly when used with modern electronic control gear. They typical~yuse 16.5 per cent of the energy of a tungsten bulb.

tubes simulate the full colour and beneficial u~traviolet spectrum of natural daylight. These daylight tubes help to create a more healthy working enviro~mentby reducing fatigue. They may help seasonal affective disorder (SAD) sufferers, who suffer a cyclic form of depression linked to the reduced ht levels of autumn and winter months. These l a m ~ use s the same ~ ~ o u ofn t energy a s a standard fluorescent. They are ~ a r t i c u l a r ~useful y in areas with no natural light such a s basements, which can be depressing to work in, s

k s and warehouses. They this varies by type. Low are usually more eff~cientthan ~ ~ o r e s c e n pressure sodium lamps are the most efficie~~t but are not suited to rapid switching.

Action on lighting will be a key part of your overall energy efficiency ~ r o g r ~ m m e . ~ efficient. There are a number of controls that can be used to make your l ~ g h t i nmore These allow you to set lights to switch off auto ma tical^^ at set times to ~ a t c the h w o r ~ i n gday. Time switching may be used to switch off l ~ g h t i nat~ regular intervals, forcing occupants to reassess their li~htingand to turn lights on only if required. Acoustic, ultrasonic or infra-red sensors may be used to switch li automatica~lywhen s o m e b o ~ yenters or leaves an area. I t i s important to set the timing correctly on these, particularly in toilets! Fit presence detector switches in places not in c o ~ s t a n use, t for instance, lavatories and meeting rooms. irn lights according to the levels of natural light in th office and so maximise the use of natural light.

163

ep all windows clean and make sure li w i n d o ~ sor , install dayli

d return on their initial invest ortunity to install th

e (less light is given off an where all lights are replac l1 capacity. This program nsure consistent lighting levels.

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e staff to be ~ i ~ i g eand nt ornmon misconce~tion thata en erg^ is required each time lights are switched on; this i s not the case.

uses more energy than Not true! A 1 .8 m tube left on unnecessarily for 15 minutes uses 7 ~ , 0 0 0joules of energy. The energy usedto start the tubeis lessthan 150 joules. Over a15-minute break the energy used is 500 times greater if the lights are left on. ‘Switching lights on an their life.’ Not true! Leaving lights on for e x t ~ n ~ e d periods also shortenstheir life and if lights are s ~ i t c h e doff for more than 20 ~ i n u t e s there is a net gain in lamp life.

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Staff are often not aware of how li controlled - banks of s ~ i t c h e need s labels - or who should switch off lights at the end of the day. 1

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~ a t eisr an increasingly scarce and therefore expensive commodity. The true cost of water is higher than the supply and sewerage charges alone. The true cost should include the energy taken to heat and deliver the water in your building. Therefore, energy costs should be used as an i ~ p o r t a nadditional t driver for reducing water use. See Energy e ~ r l i in ~ rthis c ~ ~ ~ t ~ r

In ~ n g l a n dand Wales, as in many parts of the world, the balance between water supply and demand is an increasingly vital issue. Over the last decade, the demand for water in the UK has reached unprecedented levels and there is a trend towards a reduction in average rainfall, often leading to water shortages. In the future, organ~sationsare liable to see tighter restrictions on their use of water and fur~her increases in charges for metered water, yet most businesses are still not aware of how much they are using. Over two-thirds of water use in the average office takes place in the washroom, where substantial savings can often be made.

It is an offence for occupiers of trade premises to discharge trade effluents into a public sewer unless authorised by the sewerage underta~er. To obtain a consent to discharge, occupiers of trade premises must make an application to the sewerage underta~er.The consent may impose conditions such as the rate, ~ ~ a n t iand t y composition of effluent.

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It is an offence to cause or to ~nowinglypermit any poisonous, noxious or polluting matter or any solid waste matter to enter any controlled waters. App~icationfor consent to discharge to controlled waters must be made to the ~ n v i r o n ~ eAgency. nt If consent is granted, the Agency will set conditions to ensure compliance with statutory water ~ u a ~ iobjectives. ty

Government and industry initiatives

The ~~~~C was established in 1993 in recognition of the important role that demand management has to play in ensuring the sustainable use of water resources; the need for appreciation of the political, technical and economic considerations surrounding demand management and a need to raise awareness and in~uencekey players.

165

A project run by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA), ‘Buildings that Save Water’, is investigatinggreywaterandrainwater

recycling demonstration systems with the aim of providing sound design and operation guidance. A technical report and best practice manual is due to be published in June 2000. Contact ClRIA Customer Services.

Consider where water is used in your organisation. Use this information to make targeted savings, Any saving in water consumption is not only a direct reduction in purchasing costs but also leads to an associated saving in wastewater disposal costs and improves your environmental performance.

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The cost of water supply as a utility is often mistakenly considered to be too low to be of concern to offices. Water bills are split into two components; the purchase price, usually charged per m3, and the disposal price - your water discharged to sewer - also charged per m3. Both of these charges are set to rise at a rate greater than inflation. This may be all your accounts department actually pays for water; however, to identify the true cost of water to your or~anisationyou should add pumping costs: pumping and distributing water around the site andbuilding incurs energy costs;and maintenance costs: pumps, meters and pipework all incur maintenance costs, not to mention possible treatment and capital costs associated with meeting increasing demand for water.

Almost half of the water Companies in the UK now offer free installation of water meters on request andall but three companiesnow have more cost-reflectivetariffs for customers who use large amounts of water. Meters of different sizes have associated standing charges, for example E4 1 for a I5 mm meter to E l 128 for a 150 mm meter. Use your water bills to calculate the amount of water that you use and how much you spend on watersupply and sewerage annually. Use Table 5.5 to calculate a baseline of water use per member of staff. NB. 1 m3 is equivalent to 1000 litres.

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umber of staff in

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Over two-thirds of water use in the average office takes place in toilets and washrooms. Up to 20 per cent of water is used for urinal flushing and 30 per cent t h r o u ~ htaps. New legislation came into force in July 1999 which set a ~ a x i m cistern u~ volume for new toilets. This is 6 litres for single flush toilets, and 4 litres short flush and 6 litres long flush for dual flush toilets. Water displacement devices, sometimes known as cistern dams, are generally low cost and easy to fit. Most water companies will provide cistern dams free of charge; if not, improvise using a solid object such as a housebric~or a plastic bottle filled with water. You may need to experiment with different sized objects to ensure adequate ~ u s h i n gis maintained. They can save between 1.5 and 4 litres per flush.

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Complete wash roo^ control systems that limit hot and cold water supply as well as lighting and ventilation are now available. Infra-red sensors react to anyone entering the washroom and activate all the services. The services are then only available for the time period set in the control unit. This makes it impossible to leave a tap running, avoids overflow in^ and flooding, and separate urinal ~ u s h i nsystems ~ are not needed. Taps

Fit push-button taps to save up to half the water used through taps. Push-button taps cannot be left on accidentally, help prevent floods in the event of a sink getting blocked and are more reliable than hydraulic models, especially in areas of bad limescale. 167

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tion project funded by the Environment Agency, Southern Water and West Sussex County Council. The project had a budget of E4500 to implement water saving measures and record their ef~ectiveness.

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infra-red urinal controls installed in male toilet blocks. Retrofit push taps with built-in flow restrictors fitted to all washroom taps. Flow restrictors fitted to taps in the classroomsandreplacement plugs provided. Save-a-flush bags (plastic bags filled with a moisture-retaining compound) installed in all toilet cisterns. These devices save approximately 1 litre per flush and work effectively in most cisterns. Water butts on down pipes to collect rainwater for garden watering. Three outside meters (to account for external water use) and one logger for the main meter installed.

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The project is currently part way to comp~etion.Following t h e i n ~ ~ a l l a t i of on each efficiency measure, the water meters will be monitored for three weeks.

Infra-red urinal controls reduced water consumption by 60 per cent, a savi ~ 2 0 0 0per year. These units cost E900 to install, making the payback p less than six months. This high saving was partially because the previous S was faulty, but was welcomed all the same! The push taps saved a further 9 per cent and were welcomed by the caretaker, who was previously subjected to regularly flooded toilet blocks; the toilet paper down the sink trick no longer works! It is expected that this combination of measures will dramatically reduce the school's water bills and has led to a much better understand in^ of where the water was being used and how best to reduce consumption. The project was completed by the end of April 2000.

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~ e t r o existing ~t urinals with deodorising pads to remove the need for water flushing, or consider installation of waterless urinals if refurbishment is due. ~otential savings are between €70 and €1 70 per urinal per year. ~ u t o m a t i cflush contro~lerson urinal systems ensure that the cistern only flushes during office hours or after use rather than continuously. These devices can reduce water use and costs by 50 per cent, Check your pipes for leaks: leaks can cost you large amounts af money and can cause d a ~ a g eto the building. Check your meter readings re~ularlyand car~fullyif you are paying for water that you cannot account for, you may have a le Ensure that taps and pipework are regularly maintained; a tap d r i p ~ i n gonce per second wastes 4750 litres of water annually.

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ney by negotiating with your supplier. if you have reduced your water consumption or no longer use sprinkler or hoses to water gardens you may be eligible for reduced charges. Your water s u p p l i ~ rshould also be able to supply you with a range of water saving tips and may be able to conduct visits and provide advice on water, Using a sprinkler to water gardens and l~ndscapedareas can use up to 1020 litres of water an hour.

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Water early in the evening to reduce evaporation losses. Use low v o l u ~ watering e devices such as seep hoses Use mulches or ground covering plants to lower soil temperature an evaporation. Plant drought resistant plants or ensure appropriate pl locations for their requirements, ie thirsty plants in shady Use hosepipe trigger controls to avoid their being left on.

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re er from showers and wash basins) and rainwater can reduce mains c o n s ~ ~ p t i by o nup to 90 per cent. Despite this rainwater recovery systems have not been widely adopted in the U barriers to uptake are the relatively unproven techno lo^ of total r associated unproven cost benefit, a lack of standard for rainwat systems and a lack of design guidance. Use water butts to collect guttering, and use this water for small gardens.

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education, Three Valleys Water is making children aware of water usage and the environment. Literature to back up practical activities is being d for school use and free trees are supplied to local schools. Centre staff Iks in schools and have develo ed a range of activities cross-referenced National Curriculum. entre water-conscious gardens, a tree nursery, a butterfly garden garden have been established. A joint venture is planned with ~~~~~~i~~ ~ ~ to trial i watering c ~ devices. The water-conscious gardens d e ~ o n s t r a t esimple water-saving tec gardens are used to teach local NVQ students. Th a seriesofinformationleafletsto encourage goodgardening and booklets aimed to support the ~ o v e r n ~ e n thome ’s study agree-

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E x p e r i ~ e n t sare taking place with alocal furth r education colle e to that require no watering. This project is interesting S or those with bad backs to d

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entre’s activities promote avery positive message lleys Water. The entre has been in existence for a little over S already had an impact on local schools and on staff attitudes y use and composting kitch n waste. The whole garden develo~mentand ongoing trials have the potential to meet the nee diverse interested groups but, most of all, to help the environment.

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Using cistern dams in modern toilets is not always viable due to r e s t r i ~ t ~water d flow which can result in blockages. Newer water is used designs of cistern dam such as Save-a- d Check your bills: review flush (a plastic bag filled with a moisturestanding charges and tariffs retaining c o ~ p o u n dretains , one litre per u' Upgrade your washrooms to flush) are more suitable. l on it or toilets minimise water wastage closely after fitting dams and e x p e r i ~ e n t / Adapt your landscaping with various sizes if necessary. practices and colilcitct rainwater in water butts for

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Follow Special Waste Regulations for disposal of hazardous

tl Consider the health and safety issues of office equipment c1 Maximise the opportunities of refurbishment programmes to invest in energy efficiency measures U Replace refrigerant with chemicals that do not damage the ozone layer and do not contribute to global warming fll implement a lighting repiacement programme and switch-off campa ign Implement a water-saving programme focusing on major areas of usage, typically washrooms and landscaping

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Thvel, and cars in particular, has revolutioni~ed theway we live. But the way we choose to travel has a price: for health, for the economy and for the environment. Motor travel continues torise by approximately 2 per cent every year andthe DETR’s most ~ e c e n t ~ a t i o nRoad a l Traffic Forecasts (1997) predict that traffic will increase by up to5 1 per centbet wee^ 1996 and 20 16. It is now generally accepted that traffic jams cost time and money, create pollution and take the pleasure out of driving, and there is a g~owingpublic consensus for change and a new approach to trans-

n area that people tend not think about when considerin cts of their office. Offices can be h ~ users a of~transport, b commuting and business travel. Company car sales account for half of all new cars e a higher mileage than privately registered cars. The environmental effects of your transp~rt needsmay therefore be a significant partof the overall environmenta~ impactof your offices. Efficient use of transport will also improve businesseffectiveness and profitability. The guide The C o ~ ~ a nThe y , Fleet And The ~ n v i r o n ~ (Energy e ~ t Efficiency Best Practice Progra~me,1995) concludes that:

’ ~ x ~ e r i eshows ~ c e that e ~ e c t i v e ~ e e t m a n ~ ~ releases e m e n t ~ ~ i c a l s ~ofv i n ~ s I O per cent.~ i t h ~ ecars e t c o s t i E5,OOO ~~ or more each year;an ~ v e r a ~ e ~ e e t of I O 0 cars c~uldsave ESO,OOO. For any c o ~ ~ a n i etu~nover s, ~ o uhave l ~ to increase by E0.5 ~ i ~ ~ori oore n to m a ~ ea compara~lecontribution to pro~ts~ These benefits are certain to increase. Congestion is set to increase and the government is expected to increase fuel duty to reduce the growing greenhouse gas emissions. This chapter is divided into c o m ~ u t i n gand business travel. It explains how your o r ~ a ~ i s a tcan i o ~provide facilities and encouragement to allowstaff to reduce their car dependency when travelling to work. The chapter also looks at ways of reducing the impact, and cost, of the company car. To enable you to prioritise the key areas to target whenreducing, the chapter begins with ahierarchy of transport solutions.

The environmentalissuessurroundingtransportarecomplexandcanmake approaching the issue confusing. In Chapter 3, Office Waste, we looked at the ~overnment’swaste hierarchy, which provides a guide to dealing with your waste. ~e have developed a transport hierarchy that provides a simple rule of t h u ~ bto reducing the environmental effects of your transport: Reduce the need to travel at all through better planning and useof c o m ~ ~ ~ i ~ tion technology. 2 Switch from energy intensive and polluting vehicles to more efficient transport modes such as public transport, cycling and walking. 3 Make sure vehicles are efficient and well maintai~ed. I

The guidance given in this chapter follows this hierarchy. ~ i t ~ the i ntwo main sections of c o m ~ u t i nand ~ business travel, subjects are covered in orde r of their level in the hierarchy.

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Company cars are heavily linked to re~uneration.vehicle allocation, free fuel and parking are policy areas that will require board level a ~ r e e ~ ~Senior nt. ~ana~ers are often very reluctant to lose their luxury car! Equally, significant expenditure on 173

video or teleconferencing to reduce the needto travel will require board agreement. I t is therefore important when tackling transport to make sure top level commitment is there to back initiatives. Senior ma~agementneed to understand the business case. The main benefits are: the potential for significant savings and that tackling a sensitive issue such as t r ~ n s p o rwill t show that the organisation has a genuine commitment to environmental improvement. You are also likely to receive more support if transport initiatives are linked with the organisation’s overall environmental programme. An environmental programme that ignores transport will lack credibility.

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The emission of pollutants from road vehicles is governed by the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations made under the Road Traffic Act 1988. These have been amended a number of times, partly to comply with European Union Directives setting maximum emissions levels. The Regulations require vehicle users to keep engines in tune and to make sure that any emission control equipment, such as catalysts, works efficiently. I t is an offence to use a car on the public highway if it fails to conform to the prescribed emissionstandards. Roadside checks are regularly carried out by the DVM; owners failing the tests can be fined up to E5000.

The UK National Air Quality Strategy, the first of its kind in Europe, was published in March 1997. The Strategy sets out health-based standards for eight main air pollutants and objectives for their achievement throughout the UK by 2005. I t identifies the action that needs to be taken at international, national and local level, and provides a frameworl~which allows relevant parties, such as industry, business and Local government, to identify the contributions they can make to ensuring that its objectives are met, Vehicles are accepted to be the main air polluters in most areas and are therefore targeted for action. Local authorities will receive greater powers to manage air quality, which could include powers to tax non-residential parking, carry out roadside emissions tests and introducea congestion pricing scheme.

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The TransportWhite Paper, A zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDC ~~~~~0~ ~ f f ~ ~~~~~~~0~ s ~ o ~ ~ ~ v: ~ published ~ o ~ e in summer 1998 (DETR, 1998), sets out how the government intends to create a better, more integrated transport system to tackle the problems of congestion and pollutio~,promote transport choice and reduce car dependency. The new approach incorporates: ~~~

Local nansport Plans, to promote integration and traffic management, improve public transport and make it easier to walk and cycle. 174

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Better bus services, with local partnerships, exclusive contracts in some areas, extra help for rural buses, and concessionary faresfor all elderly people. Better rail services, with a ~ t ~ f f t eRail ~ i cA ~ t ~ oa better ~ i ~ deal , for passengers and encouragement for rail freight. A one-stop national public transport information system to help plan s ~ ~ m l e s s journeys. Revised planning guidance to reduce the need totravel. Better information, road maintenance and consumerprotection for motorists. A C o ~ ~ i s sI ~i t~ e ~~ ~~fof ~ tf e~~ sto ~keep o up ~ t the momentumfor contin~in improvement.

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ommission on ~nvironmentalPollution noted that the costs paid by transport users do not reflect the environmental damage and disbenefits caused by the use of land for transport infrastructure and by movements of vehicle of economic instruments, such as pricing measures and taxation, is an way of i ~ ~ u e n c i ntravel g choice and can help to ensure that all costs, environmental costs, are reflected in the price of transport. The costs of road travel could rise dramatically in the future. In the arch 1998 Budg~t,petrol duty was raised by 7.3 per cent despite the abolition of the former fuel duty escalator. The Chancellor also announced that he would be consi~ering the case for replacing the existing business mileage discounts with discounts for driving fewer private miles in company cars, The government aims to introducelegislation to enable local aut~orities tolevy a new parkin^ charge on workplace parking. This charge would not apply to residential parking. Local councils will also be allowed to charge on con roads, provided they plough back the money into transporti~provements. These charges will send a direct economic signal that traffic jams generate hidden economic, social and environmental costs. Workplace car parking ch can counter theeffective subsidy of free parking space given to rush hour commuter car traffic. Road user charges can be pinpointed to tackle specific congestion hotspots in different areas at different times of day.

Transport has a range of effects that have made it a key environmenta~ issue.The environmental effects of transport are~ r i m a r i ~caused y by road vehicles due to their large numbers and the way they are used; for example, for short journeys with single passengers. Short haul air travel is increasing, but generates three times the CO, emissions of train travel. Walking and cycling have the least impact on the environme~t, create littlepollution ornoise,uselittlespaceandcause few accidents. They are also a good formof exercise? When petrol or diesel is burnt for energy in an engine the main b y - p r o d ~ ~ t s a r e 175

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water vapour and carbon dioxide (CO,). Other pollutants are alsoproduce^ because the burning processis not perfect.

ccounts for at least 22 per cent of U ant greenhouse gas contributing cli to h continues to climb and is even higher if air travel is issions such as nitrous oxide also contribute to the the Kyoto Conference on Climate Change in December 1997, the European ~utomobileManufacturers Association agreed to reduce the CO, e ~ i s s i o n from s new passenger carsby over 25 per cent over the next ten years. Increasing transport demand is a major obstacle to meeting the U tional commitments to reduce emissionsof carbon dioxide. In the 2000 Budget, the ~hancellorextended the lower rate of vehicle excise duty (VEL)) for cars which have an enginecapacity of up to l200 cc. In addition, he announced thatfuture c o m ~ a n y car tax would be based on the CO, emissions of the vehicle used by an individual.

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All types of transport emit air pollutants; however, road vehicles are most significant, contributing over50 per cent of the emissions of nitrogen oxides and over 75

per cent of carbon monoxide emissions in the UK. At a local level the pollution from vehicle exhausts is linked to a rangeof health effects, in particular respiratory ailments. Anon the health issues raised are lead poisoning, particu~~rly in children, and theenic effects of chemicals suchasbenzene. In addition,therehasbeen an i in theincidenceofrespiratoryillnessoverrecentyears,particularly amongst children. It has been suggested that environmental factors such as air pollution could initiate asthma in previously healthy individuals or provoke or ravate asthma symptoms in those who arealready asthmatic. Particles of matter such as carbon and u n ~ u r n e dfuel and oils that are found in exhaust gases (known as particulates) are especially implicated in the causes of respiratory problems. Emissionsfrom diesel engines containhigher levels of particulates. Smaller particles, known as PMlOs, cause the greatest concernfor health as they can penetrate the body’s defences. An American study has suggested that particulates may be responsible for as many as 10,000 extra deaths a year in England and Wales (Royal Commission on Environ~entalPollution, 1994). All London buses are expected to be fitted with particulate trapsby 2005.

Until recently diesel cars were promoted as being greener due to their greater efficiency which leads to lower carbon dioxide emissions. However, the Committee on ~ e ~ i cEffects al of Air Pollutants (1997) stated that on health grounds, with the current state of knowledge, diesel engine cars should not be recommended over petrol engine cars withcatalytic converters. In urban areas, where mostpeople live, diesel vehicles remain an important sourceof oxides of nitrogen (NO,) and particulate emissions. Petrol cars fitted with 3-way catalytic converters also remain an

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important sourceof NO, emissions and,in addition, of emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). For petrol cars, this is primarily due to the predominance of short journeys in urban areas, often from col conditions under which thecatalyst is much less effective at controlling pollutants. Both vehicle types produce carcinogenic substances in differing proportions, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds(PAHs), benzene and l butadiene. Overall, therefore, comparison of the likely health impacts of the two vehicle types is difficult and definitive advice, on health grounds,of diesel versus petrol- ower re^ light vehicles is not possible. However, concerns about the effects of particles on health in urban areas currently tip the balance in favour of petrol. In the near future the comparison betweenpetrol and diesel may alter and will also be complicated by a range of alternative fuels, the use of which is growing rapidly. Liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) both have significant net benefits over petrol in the redu~tionof air pol~ution and carbon dioxide emissions. The Energy Savings Trust lau~chedits Powers~iftprogramme in I996 to boost the market for LPG, CNG and electricity powered vehicles. The scheme meets some of the costbetween conventiona~ and a~ternative vehicles or the costof' conversion. LPG costs half the price of unleaded petrol, the premium for alternative-f~elled vehicles continues to fall and the number of refuelling stations has increased dramatically.

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Whilst the health impacts of air pollution are much disputed, there is no ar with road accident figures. While these are amongst the lowest in Europe, they represent nearly two-fifths of all accidental deaths in the UK.

For the majority of people in the UK, road traffic is the main source of noise ( R 0 al ~ o m ~ i s s i oonn En~ronmenta~ Pollution, 1994).At a local level, airports and airc flight paths can create serious problems. Althou~h it has received less attention than air pollution, there is a growing body of evidence on the effect of noise on health. In particular it is linked to stress-related conditions such as raised blood pressure. Noise is also amajor reason why people avoid walkingor cycling on busy roads and therefore acts as a deterrent to using more environmentally preferable modes of transport.

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Congestion imposes considerabledirect costs onroad users through longer journey times, journey time unrelia~ility, increasedfuel consumption, and frustration and discomfort for vehicle drivers and passengers. Estimates vary, but congestion certainly costs businessbillions of pounds every year.

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It i s estimated that UK drivers and passengers lost 1.6 billion business hours as a result of traffic congestion in 1996, and that 80 per cent of this total occurred in urban areas.The problem is p~rticularly acute in the inner conurbations and during iods. A significant contribution tothis must be that, nationally, rkforce drives to work, andof these, 75 per cent have parking provided by their employer. However, congestion can also be a problem in rural areas during holiday periods, at popu~artourist locations, at special events and at botksonthetrunk roadnetwork. estion is a major contributor to air pollution, noise and nuisance, as discussed above; in addition, traffic congestion can also damage the viability and vitality of urban centresby discouraging visitorsand encouraging relocation to outo f - t o ~ nareas. Cong~stionmakes it more difficult for bus operators to provide an efficient and reliable service, and makes use of the roads unpleasantfor cyclists and

a1 disposal of cars as scrap presents a major zardous or contaminated materials such as batteries, exhaust systems, tyres and oil that need to be carefully dealt with. Discarded vehicles resultin 8 to 9 million tonnes of waste each yearin the European . The proposed End of Life Vehicles Directive sets a target to re-use andlor cent of the vehicle’s weight. Under this proposal, the automotive onsible for collection and recycling of vehicles to reduce the burden on public a ~ t ~ o r i t i in e sline with the Producer ~esponsibilityPrinciple.

Travel Wise was launched by Hertfordshire County Council in 1993 and is now a gn invo~ving.over100 highway authorities. The aim of the Travel S to promote travel awareness and alternatives to car travel. The Dave1 Wise news~etter,C ~ 7 ~ ~~ c~reports ~ ~ s i,quarterly ~ ~ on a wide range of local initiatives includin Walk to School ~ e e kstaff , car sharing schemes and park and ride sites.

ctor in developing an integrated transS encouraging business to implement nsport and other business issues in a coordinated strategy - to relieve pressure on roads and car parking facilities, to save money and to improve businesses’ environmental performance.

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Commuting to work creates a huge demand for transport. Between 1985 and 1999 the proportionof individuals travelling to workby car increasedfrom 5'7 per cent to '70 per cent. More cars on the road mean more stress, more time wasted in traffic and more pollution. While no organisation can control the waystaff get to work in the way they control business travel, it is possible to provide facilities and encoura ~ ~ m eto n treduce this burden. ~ o t t i n g h a mCity Council hasbeenattheforefront of promoting'green commuter plans' for the city's employers. These plans help compa~ies to set up a comprehensive approach to reducing the environmental impact, and often cost, of commuting. Green CommuterPlans are intended to bedeveloped and ~ m p l ~ ~ e n t e d over a three-year period with a target to cut car commuting journeys by 30 per cent.

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Key features required to set up aplan include:

Senior mana~ement com~itment, including leading by example and appointment of a seniormember of staff as theStaff Travel ~oordinator. Staff travel survey to provide a baseline. A target to monitor and encourage progress. Extensive cons~ltationwith staff to overcome resistance to change and gain commitment. Use of work area travel plans in larger organisations.

An i ~ p o r t a n first t step is to have an accurate idea of how your staff currently travel to work. This will provideyou with a baseline figure from which to monitor improvements and allow you to target initiatives on areas with the most potential for improvement. A survey of all staff, or of a representative sample,will allow you to gatheri n f o r ~ a -

tion on current commuting patterns. Key information required is preferred mode of transport (and why, if possible) and distance travelled. A survey presents an opportunity tofind out what measureswould encourage staff

to cycle or take public transport to work.This will yield useful information andwill develop staff interest in the project. 179

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Organise a prize draw for those whohave been involved in the survey to encourage participation. For example, Boots in ~ o t t i n g h a mcarried out a staff travel survey with a response rateof 85 per cent. Respondents were entered into prize a draw of a ‘family of bicycles’.

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For commuter travel, meeting the top level of the transport hierarchy; reducing the need to travel, demands radical thinking. Can you bring the office closer to staff or even let staff work from home so that they rarely need to come to the office? A variety of working practices are now commonplace. Location-independent working provides staff with the means to workfrom any building using a mobile phone and portable PC with a modem link. Teleworking refers to staff that work from a fixed base outside the organisation,for example, the home. Teleworking is not unique to large businesses; micro businesses can now operate through Telecentres- local resource centres. A number of small companies share the premises and reduce overheads by sharing resources andtravel. Studies have found that teleworkers produce more work and have lower support and property costs. This has been calculated as a 45 per cent gain in efficiency. The overall environmental effects of the teleworking trend are complex; however, working from home for just one day a fortnight will reduce an employee‘s commuting trips by 10 per cent. ~ a n a g e m e n by t results will ensure that employees do not abuse teleworking. ~ o t t i n ~ h aCity m Council requires new staff to move within 20 miles of their workplace to qualify for its relocation package. In future, this may be changed to within five miles, with a more generous package for those who live closest.

When moving to anew office, make sure it is near toresidential areas and hasgood public transport access tominimise the distance staff have to commute. Hold conferences at venues with good public transport links rather than those located at motorway junctions. Include instructions on how to travel by public transport as well as by road. This might be the first impression of your company and it can promote your environmental awareness.

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To develop home working, focus on one major benefit and use that tosell the idea. For instance, if the salesforce of a companyis hardly ever at their desks, couldthey

work from home and saveoffice space and costs? 1 80

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Stockley Park is Europe's leading business park, located near Heathrow. It launched the Stock~ey Park Transport Plan to improve the choice of travel available to the 6600 staff on the site for both environmental and commercial reasons. A travel survey showed that 30 per cent of employees were interested in car sharing and 60 per cent would use public transport some or all of the time - if it were improved! The results of this survey were key in the development of the transport plan, which included public transport improvements, car sharing, cycling, raising awareness and reducing dependency.

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ark subsidises two bus services, investing E l ~ 0 , 0 0 0a year. The additional funding has enabled the introduction of new, more spacious, branded buses on the main route. To enable people to findsuitablecar share partners,StockleyPark ~ o n s o r t i u mhave designed an innovative Internet system called 'Spark'. Users can register with the car share scheme and carry out a search for car share partners. Once a suitable match has been found, a map is viewed and the two people can email each other to set up an arrangement. Spark also provides an ideal forum for raising awareness of transport alternatives, providing information about cycling to work, public transport timetables and maps. Online shopping at Tesco is also offered through 'Spark', enabling people to shop over the Internet at lunchtime, reducing car dependency. Promotion of the free, twice weekly shopper bus also forms part of thetransport plan. Employees are encouraged to cycle to work and the Stockley Park Bicycle y. employees were involved in ~ a t i o n aBike ~ to User roup meets r e ~ u ~ a r lMany Work Day and received a free breakfast and bike repair service. Spending on the Transport Plan has now reached approximately E l 5 ~ , 0 0 0 and the Stockley Park ~ o n s o r t i u mhas pledged 522.3 million towards sustainable transport improvements, including the Heathrow North station at Hayes, the development of new bus routes and cycle routes.

ark has been awarded '6usiness Park of the Year' by the Institute of Transport Management in recogniti~nof the lead taken by the consortium in imple~entingan innovative transport plan to reduce traffic congestion.

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Use incentives such asa cash payment to encourage thosestaff that do not needto drive to work to consider the alternatives.

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A simple but essential partof reducing commuter travel is provision of information.

Ensure current maps, timetables and other information areavailable to all staff by displaying in major staff meeting placesand on your company's intranet if you have one. A national public transport information system is planned for 2000.

Larger organisations are increasingly able to negotiate discounts with local public transport operators. Staff at BAA Heathrow can purchaseTravelcards that offer discounts on bus and rail services of up to 80 per cent.

has great potentialfor implementing the secondlevel of the hierarchy: using a less damaging modeof transport. The National CyclingStrategy publishedin 1996 aims to double cycle use by the year 2002 and quadruple it by 2012. It highlights the potential for the UK to dramatically increase its use of bicycles. 'In Swit~erland there are more hills, Sweden has colder winters and Germany higher car ownership; yet each has five times the share of bicycle trips than the UK': Pepartment of Pansport ( 1996b). The Strategy urges all companies to provide facilities for cyclists to increase the proportion of staff cycling to work. It also suggests providing financial incentives for employees to encourage cycle use and that'Consideration be given to reallocating car parking space to cycle parking as a potentially cost efficient use of land by commercial concerns'. There can be a direct benefit to organisations from encouraging staff to cycle. The British Medical Association stated that cycling has considerable health advantages, particularly for preventing heart disease. Healthier staff means fewer days off sick. People who cycle to work also benefit from reduced travel costs and often a quicker, more convenient and more reliable mode of transport. The National Cycle Network,designedandbuilt by Sustransandsupported by the ~ i l l e n n i u m Commission, will cover 8000 miles by 2005. This vastly improved network of specifically designed cycle lanes will go through the centre of most major towns and cities, enabling afar greater number of people to cycle safely to work.

Providing a secure, sheltered place to store bicycles is crucial to encouraging staff

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to cycle to work. Risking your bicycle being stolen is a major deterrent. A Sheffield stand, an inverted U-shaped bar which takes two bikes, costs from just €25. At the other end of the scale, a cycle cage holding 12 bikes with key or swipe card access costs from €1500. Alternatively, talk to your local authority about setting up cycle parking nearby and offer to cover part of the cost.

The other facility needed is showers and changing areas. Neither the cyclist nor their colleagues will be keen on cycling miles to work if they have to wear the same clothes all day! Consider offering an interest-free loan for bicycles and other necessarye~uipment such as helmets and waterproof clothing. Staff at HMV Music Stores can buy bicycles at a 10 per cent discount and spread the payments using an interest-free loan of up to €500. BUG to encourage newcyclists to meet more experienced ones to discuss routes, safety and equipment. SomeBUGS have a ‘ ~ u d d y ’ system for new or inexperienced cyclists.

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Use the health and environmentalbenefits of cycling to promote cycling to work to your staff. Sponsored ‘Cycle to Work’ days can persuade those who don‘t cycle to give it a go, but ensure thereis a next step such ascycle training schemes, security marking for bikes, or follow-up events to maintain momentum. 8

Giving staff the reass~ranceof a guaranteed taxi ride in the case of an emergency will overcome many of their concerns about doing ~ i t h o utheir t car.

Public transport may already be a widely used alternative to driving if your office is in a town centre. In this case simple measures suchas providing timetables can be very successful at ensuring staff are ~ a ~ i the n g most of available services. If you are out of town, most staff are less likely to be aware of local public transport services and higher profile initiatives will be needed to encourage a culture change away from the car.

Staff may be put off public transport by the initial cost of a season ticket, particularly if they are commuting into London. Some organisations give employees free Travelcards as part of their salary package, others such as British Telecom and Friends of the Earth offer their staff an interest-free loan for the ticket which enables the cost tobe spread out. Good information is a key to encouraging use of public transport. There should be points in the office where local public transport information, such as tim~tables and route maps, is held. Some of this information may be available on computer; London Transport have a guide to their services available on the Internet. Large companies may be able to obtaintailored information from bus companies. Another option for large companies is to build on existing public transport by providing company transport for local employees or a shuttle service to the local train or bus station.

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ity, which will be trying to encourage more use of public transport and cycling, and transport operators whohave an interest in attracti~gmore passengers. An example of this partnership a ~ ~ r o a would ch be an employer working with a local bus operator to provide: discounted tickets for staff, services that fit in with the times staff want to travel and travel information targeted at staff. For instance, ham City Council provides a staff discount travelcard scheme. Pavelcards for the city’s buses are sold to staff at a discount and sent directly to theworkplace. The cost is then automatically deducted from the payroll. Park and ride season tickets for staff can be negotiated along the same lines. L

One of the barriers toswitching from car topublic transport is habit. An initiative to overcome this is to hold a ‘leave your car at home’day. Many local authorities have run these successfully and linked them to Green Transport Week, which is held in June. The day will need to bepublicised well in advance. Publicity such as a picture of the Chief Executive on a bicycle will help! The reward is that some of those staff that switch to a bus orbicycle for the day may decide to do so regularly.

Free parking spaces are anexpensive perk that encourage staff to c o ~ m u t by e car. Southampton University Hospitals have calculated that an average of E300 a year is 1 84

spent onmaintaining each of its parking spaces (including maintenance and opportunity costs). This figure is higher in expensive town centre areas. To encourage staff to use less polluting modes of transport you need to tackle this subsidy, as well as implementing the positive measures outlined above. The cost of providing parking is likely to rise further as the government is considering giving local councils powers to tax non-residential parking to help curb air pollution. Reducing the need for car parking spaces will minimise direct costs and allow the opportunity cost of that land to be realised by using it for another purpose. Some of the profits can then be put back into encouraging other formsof transport to work.

t is to assess how many spaces you have available, who is using them, when they are used and how much they cost. The real cost of the parking should be allocated to specific work areas so it can be managed rather than hidden in overheads. The real cost includes the land, laying out, maintenance and management andloss of alternative uses. a range of e~uipment such as automatic card systems that allowquick entry andexit. Only staff that genuinely need to bring their cars to work should be given a parking permit. Charge for parking spaces at a market rate and use the money to provide support for other modes of transport such as facilities for cyclists and loans towardspublic transport season tickets. Encourage staff to car-share with lower parking charges,

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Car sharing is a relatively simple way to achieve more efficient use of the car, the final level of the transport hierarchy. Some of your staff may already be car sharing and this, along with the savings, means resistance is likely to belower than to some of the measures described above.

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185

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The simplest way to promote sharing is a dedicated notice-board or computer bu~letin board where staff can exchange informationto enable them tolink up (you could publicise it as a dating agency for car sharing?).This also provides a focal point for publicising environmental initiatives and reporting progress back to staff.

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To provide more active support for car sharing, an organisation can develop a

database of those wishing to car-share and the locations from which they commute. The d a t a b ~ s eshould have a designated memberof staff res~onsiblefor updating or it will swiftly become outof date. A

guaranteed ride home by taxi in the event of an emergency should be madeavailable to all staff who are car sharing.

Some organisationsstill see teleworking as an easy option. However, many companies have found that, in the right situation, it can save money and increase theefficiency of staff time. Many people have never dreamt of using anythingbuttheircar for c o m ~ u t i n g . Measurestoencouragelessdamaging modes of transport are therefore potentially controversial. If staff see the initiatives as a management cost cutting exercise, imposed from above, they will fail; you cannot force staff to use the bus or cycle. Make sure you involve staff from the beginning and that your programme is seen positively, offering benefits to staff and the environment. In this context measures such ascharging for car parking will be easier to introduce.

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Is largest commercial operator of airports, owning and operatorts. Heathrow Airport is now the world's busiest international airport, hand~ingover 60 million passengers and over 1.2 million tonnes of cargo a year. Heathrow is served by over 90 airlines flying to over 200 destin The airport provides direct employment for over 57'OOO people and up to n the local area are dependent on the airport. Ap, Heathrow's environmental policy commits it to minim is in^ the impact growing business on the environment and local communities through continuous improvement of its performance. This performance has been the subjectof annual reports since 1993 and communityreports have b published since 1996. In 1~ ~ ~ we / 9merged 9 these into one document reporting against the sustainable ~evelopment 'triple bottom line' of environmentl economic and social accounting. Surface transport, with its air quality, health and social equity implication^, is one of the key issues ad~ressedin the report.

S aim is to make it is already the aviation hub of theworld,but the world's leading public transport hub as well. In addition to setti for increasing the proportion of air passengers using has initiated a staff green transport plan process. the first to make progress in this area with publication in 1997 of the Heathrow Area Employee Travel ~nitiative.This was followed in 199 by a consultation document outlining the purpose and potential benefits of a t r a n s ~ o r tplan for BAA staff based at the airport. The emphasis was on encouragin~and persuading staff tothink about changing their travel patterns. The consultation plan was distrib~ted with the staff newspaper. Trade unions, key management staff and transport forum groups were also con~ulted. An independent agency was used to facilitate focus groups to gather the views of selected staff in more detail.

ultation process demonstrated that staff have a high general awareness of the travel injtiatjves that had been introduced at ~ e a t h r o wincluding a staff travelcard (which permits discounted travel on a network of bus trains covering ail three of BAA'S south-east airports) and free travel for staff

187

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on local buses (over ~50,000trips in 1999).Some of the main m e s s a g ~ swere ed for flexible transport arrangements to meet shift work in^ requirements, and the importance of high quality bus services. The consultation also highlighted the importance of keeping staff informed of the travel options for getting to and from work. E 3 MHeathrow has designed Freeflow Heathrow, an award-winning campaign to raise awareness of travel issues at the airport. We also organise events such a s Bike to Work Day and Car Free Day. Further work is now underway to continue involving staff in transport ~lanningand to bring about changes to travel behaviour. We are also seeking the commitment of other companies at the airport to produce their own staff travel plans in 2000. III

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r ~ n ~ ~ ~ c ~ transport as inefficient and expensive. Where reasonable services do exist, encouraging staffto try public transportor cycling may overcome this barrier. One of doing this is by running a 'leave your car at home' day. See ~ u ~ a~ n s~ ~ i~ r ~~ Where services are poor, large organisations can work with a transport operator and local authority toprovide a better service.

c On your own site you can provide changing and storage facilities for cyclists.You can also work withyour local authority to develop better cycle paths in the local area. Sainsbury's supermarket in Islington uses three pedi-cabs, each powered by a cyclist, to provide a ~ollution-free means to transport customers their and shopping home.

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Business travel and the company carfleet can be a major expensefor an organisation. ~aximisingthe efficiency of the car fleet and business travel is sound business practice. It can also produce substantial environmental improvements. Company cars account for almost 20 per cent of all car mileage in the UK despite representing only8 per centof all cars. Company policy on the purchase and use of company car fleets is therefore important for the environment. Company cars are generally much newer and better maintained than the average private car and therefore less per unit of fuel consumed. However, they tend to have larger engine sizes

and, as they account for a high proportion of the new vehicle fleet, they contribute to higher overall average fuel consumption both directly and through their influence on the stock of cars in the secondhand market. These drivers also tend to drive significantly further to and from work and those who receive free fuel drive further still.

ffects are complex. At present carbon dioxide emissions arebeing prioritised by government and industryin light of international commitments to reduceour contribution to global warming. Use Tables 6.1-6.3 to estimate the carbon dioxide emissions arising from your business travel and use this baseline figure to measure progress. Make a practical decision as to the amountof data you can collect at reasonable cost, proportionate to the environmental impact. For example, local travel by car may be difficult or expensive to calculate butif this is a significant proportion of your businesses travel, you may want to investigate means of measuring trips or distances. The best data tocollect is fuel use. This will reflect distance travelled as well as engine sizes and fuel efficiencies and will highlight direct rewards for using more efficient vehicles. Fuel consumption for the whole c o ~ p a n yfleet may be the easiest figure to obtain and can be used as a first step to working out overall emissions. Once this system is established, you can concentrate on collecting more accurate fuel use data, per car or department. This will enable you to make targeted and effective efficiency measures. The fuel consumption figures given in n b l e 6.1 are examples based on a fleet of ten diesel and ten petrol cars, travelling 30,000 miles each for a year. ~ s u m i n gfuel efficiencies of 30 mpg and 38 mpg for a petrol and diesel car respectively, this would require 1000 gallons (30,000/30); 4600 litres of petrol or 3632 litres of diesel. Conversion figures for LPG and CNG are 1.65 kg CO,/l and 2.67 kg CO,/kg, respectively should you have any vehicles running on these fuels, Just thissimple exercise allows a rough estimateof 204 tonnes of CO, emissions for the 20-car fleet. If you do not have access to fuel use data, record the distance travelled by each mode of travel and multiply by the relevant conversio~factor as shown in n b l e 6.2.

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Petrol

46,000

X

2.31

__

Diesel

36,320

X

2.68

-

Tot al

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106,260 97,338

1 89

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CO, e ~ i s s ~ o by n s t r ~ ~ ~ smode ~ort

Bus

vehicle km

1.28

Petrol car Diesel car Short haul flight Tu be Long haul flight Train Source: DETR, 1999a

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vehicle km

0.12

vehicle km

0.18

passenger km

0.1 1

passenger km

0.1 1

passenger km

0.06

passenger km

In Table 6.3 we have included an example of this process. Schroders use petrol and diesel car and tube travel for corporate travel a l t ~ o u g hthis is not quantified at present and does not form a major part of the overall travel undertaken. However, they have been able toquantify rail and air travel, which is shown in Table 6.3.

UK industry could save E450 million per year by e m p ~ o y i nsimple ~ fleet m a n a ~ e ~ e n t tec~niques. A typical company with a 400-strong company car fleet could save ~ 5 0 , 0 0 0 per year and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 50 tonnes through simple techniq~es

such as fuel consumption ~onitoring,journey planning and driver training,

Short haul flight

50.06

X

0.18

Long haul flight

34.40

X

0.1 1

2.68 1.56

X

0.06 0.06

Train

Total

- UK - Eurostar

88.70

X

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901 1

__

3784

__ __ __

161 94

13,050

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t approach that analyses the key transemployer and provides the structurefor e becoming accepted part of business practice throughout the USA and Europe and all UK government departments are developing their own GTPs. The DETR has produced guidance o GTP in your organisation. See C ~ a ~ t10, e r C o n ~ ~ancl ~ t ~s e s o ~ r ~ e s

ritish business managers spend nearly 1 1 hours behind the wheel each week two of them in traffic jams - travelling to an average of six meetings (ETA, 1999). while face-to-face meetings remain important to all organisations, the growth of com~unicationtechnologies provides an alternative to the traditional business . The savings achievable ~ u l t i p l y athe s distance increases. Consider the rice of a phone call against an international flight! However, techno~ogical solutions require considerablecapital i n v e s t ~ e n and t istical m a n a g e ~ e n tof their own. Simple, low tech solutions such as better ning and logistics have beenshown to have a major impacton the efficiency of freight and business transport. Tesco saved ~ ~ ~ 0 , a0year, 0 0 reduced their fleet mileage by 3 million miles and reduced their carbon dioxide emissions by 4600 tonnes a year by o r ~ a n i s i journeys n~ to ensure thatevery vehicle has a return load; a c o ~ m o nsense solution that many companies whatever the size of their fleet could learn from. hort journeys are often disregard~d as not worth monitoring, yet 58 per cent of all car journeys are less than 5 miles. A petrol car is not fully efficient until driven for 6 miles in an urban area,t~ereforethese multip~e journeys which produce more emissions and use morefuel may be a significant factor.

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Fol~owing theinitial capital cost there is potential for considerable savings ontravel costs and staff time, ~ a r t i c u ~ awhere r ~ y conferencing replaces i n t e r n a t i o ~ travel. ~l ~ o d e r video n co~municationproducts offer a wide range of facilities. For instance two screens can be used ~toa i n t a i nface-to-face contact while w o r k i ~ gwith graphics and slides. ~onferencecall technologi~s can be used to link small groups into virtual meetings or as a means of roadc casting information to large audiences with up to 1000 sites linked to a single call. travel are coordinated by efficient journey planning. For instance, schedule meetings near to each other on the same day so only one trip is required or share a car with otherstaff going to the same location.

~lanningof staff commitments can also cuttravel demand, particularly where work is split between two or more sites. When staff are seconded to other sites, providing

hotel accommodation will avoid them having to make long round-trip journeys.

Make sure that, wherever practical, all business travel is by public transport. This can result in a more efficient use of staff time since it is possible to work on the train. Ensure that standard directions you provide to visitors cover access by public transport as well as by car. Maps should show bus routes and cycle lanes. Your mar~eting material is one of the first things a visitorsees aboutyour organisation andis therefore important in communicating your environmental commitment.

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How many of your staff really need a company car? Many companies now offer alternative packages that can save the company money, reduce environmental impact and satisfy their staff.

An attracti~eand realistic alternative package might include cash and aseason ticket to use on local public transport. This can save money on the cost of the car and on

the cost of providing parking, which,as already mentioned, canbe substantial. Some o r ~ a n i s ~ t i o nsuch s , as Cambridgeshire County Council, provide office pool bicycles as an alternative to the car for short journeys.

All cars use energy and cause ~ollution,so there is no such thingas a green car. The green choice is to reduce the company car fleet. However, you can make your car

fleet more efficient and achieve signi~cantsavings by making sure thatyou purchase the right cars. More efficient models cause significantly less pollution than gas guzzlers. When choosing a car it is important to look at the wholelife cost rather

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than simply the capital cost. A cheaper model may work out to be more expensive once issues suchas fuel consum~tion and resale value are taken into account. The Vehicle Certification Agency (1999) provides a comprehensive guide listing the fuel consumption, exhaust pollution levels and noise levels of most new petrol and diesel cars on sale in the UK. Small-engined cars such as the MCC Smart and Seat Arosa come out best in terms of emissions, fuel consumption and cost. See

cha~ter10, c~ntactsand ~ e s o ~ r c e s

s en^ c a r The key points to remember are:

e

Miles per gallon, urban and non urban. Avoid ‘sporty’ models. Avoid cars with high acceleration. Avoid cars with high top speeds,

The current position of petrol, diesel and alternative fuels was outlined in the section on the Environment~lEffects of 2ansport. This position will change in the future and fleet managers need to monitor therelative merits of all available fuels.

Beyond car choice and maintenance, good driving technique can reduce fuel consumption by up to 25 per cent, This practice will also reduce the environmental impact of staff driving to work and their safety out of work hours.

io There are a number of simple steps that drivers should take to lessen their impact on the environment. %

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zyxwvutsrqponm Drive off as soon aspossible after starting the engine. Avoid harsh braking and acceleration; these areheavy fuel users. Slow down; driving at high speeds significantly increases fuel consumption. 40-55 mph is the most efficient speed. l%rn the engineoff if stuck in traffic for more than one minute.

These simple measures can meana large reduction in harmful emissionsas well as cost savings. If fuel use is being measured and managed, it is possible to monitor improvements and provide incentives to efficient drivers. 193

1~ has achieved an 8 per cent improvementin miles per gallon Over two years as a result of changing carfleet manufacturer and issuing fuel efficiency driving guidelines.

~Ompanycar drivers have on average 30-50 per cent more accidents a year than comparable private car drivers. The average cost of a claim for accidental damage to a company car is about f 1000, to which needs to be added the costin lost time. Driver training can reduce these costs and the pain and trauma associated with them. Drivers who have attended driver training courses show reduced accident rates and greater fuel efficiency through a smoother driving style. These improven ~ ~ are t being s recognised by manyinsurancecompaniesthroughreduced p~emiums. nningsoftwareandreal-time traffic informationsystemsand combining trips can help ensure the fastest, least congested route. ~ u n n i n gair-conditioning continuously increasesfuel consu~ption signi~cantly.

Fuel costs are ani ~ p o r t a npart t of the total costsinvolved in running avehicle fleet and are likely to increase faster than most other elementsof fleet budget. However, despite being the easiestvariable cost to control,they are often disregarded by fleet operators as unavoidab~e. The use of petrol in cars is the fastest growing cause of greenhouse gases and it is expected that the governm~ntwill continue to increase duty on these fuels to help reduce emissions. Most companiesawardsenior staff withlargercarsandhighermileage allowances. These measures encourage the useof less fuel-efficient cars and more driving. The perk of free fuel leaves private motoring effectively free and therefore encou~agesgreater distances to betravelled.

~rganisationsshould end the perkof free fuel for personal use. Mileage allowances should be the same for all cars. These measures will encourage the selection of smaller cars and reduce the amountof driving. ~ o n i t o r i n gvehicle fuel performance is necessary to control the company car fleet. ~onitoring techni~ues not do need to be highly technical; in fact the systems need 194

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to be simple to run to produce aclear picture without entailin trativecost. Themainfactorstoconsiderare:thevolum associated cost and the distance travelled. These will provide a complete record of fuel performance by vehicle. Driver and vehicle perform~ncecan then beaccurately monitored.

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A we~l-maintainedvehicle can be 10 per cent more efficient than one th

regularly serviced. One in five roadside breakdowns are the result of bad vehicle maintenance. To minimise the costs and environmental impacts of your car fleet it is essential to keep it well maintained.

at optimum efficiency. Use manufacturers' recommendations as the minimum level for service intervals. These services should check emissi ns to make sure they are at a minimum level. Your garage should be able to provi e a record of the emission level. Other important areas are to make sure thattyre pressures are correct and that spark plug leads and connections are in good condition. Drivers need to be made aware of their responsibility for helping to ensure re~ular servicing. S out the maintenanceof your company carsis en~ronmentallyresponsible. Ask the g a r a ~ efor details of the en ronmental precautions it takes. Car maintenance involves washing down oily and changing oil at r e g ~ l a intervals. r Car wa~hing areasand any a be oil spills should be designed to collect dirty water and pr drains. Waste oil and oily ra should be disposed of in acc Special Waste ~ e ~ u l a t i o an s oil should never be emptied d

r a company car fleet; on avera largest item in their operating budget after labour and fuel. Vres are also a major waste stream that is diffi~u~t dispose to of. Retreaded tyres provide both environmentalandcost benefits. Fleet m a n ~ g e found tyre costscan bereduced by 50 cent per by retreading their tyre casi has ledretreads to being widely used by transport based o ofessional hauliers and taxi companies. Despite their mixed reputation, retreads are already widely in use. All aircraft use retreads; a typical jet aircraft will carry out somew~erein the region of 200 take-offs and landin~s ona set of tyres that will be remoulded 4 to 5 times before

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disposed of. In the UK retreads are manufactured to strictlegal standards. treader you use should work to the British Standard AU 144e, be a memberof the Retread Manufacturers Association (RMA) and be certified to the IS0 9002 quality assurance standard.Such a manufacturerwill be subject toregular audits to make sure they maintain high quality levels. To manufacture a The environ~entalbenefits of retreads are also considerable. newngercartyretakes on average 32 litres of oil and 7 kg of rubber corn . To retreadthesametyretakes 11 litres of oil and 3 kg of rubber compound. The current savingsfor the UK from the use of retreads are 150 million litres of oil and 60,000 tonnes of rubber compound. Retreading also reduces the p r o ~ l e m sof dealing with scrap tyres.These advantages have led to government support for retreads.

zyxw zyxwvut Many or~anisations choose to contract out the management of the company car fleet. Make surethatthestandardsdetailed above are passed on to the m a n a g e ~ e n t company and are written into the contractual agreement. Cars are closely related to r e ~ u n e r a t i o n andstatuswithinmanyo~ganisations. Measures that seek to encourage senior managers to use smaller cars are potentially highly controversial. To overcome these problems the key is senior management commitment. The second important principle is to involve staff from the start. Tell your staff what is happening and make them feel part of a positive programme, othewise they may be suspicious of any changesyou introduce.

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Good driving technique can reduce fuel consumption by upto 25 percent,cut accidents and reduce maintenance costs. Driver training and fuel monitor in^ will curbanybuddingDamon Hills inyour organisation?

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n any organisations have only an overall idea of the cost of company cars and business travel. This makes improvement difficult to monitor and report on. To overcome this, use fuel cards to oni it or the fuel consumption of individual drivers. There are major savings availablefrom measures such as driver training which will be clearer i f you can demonstrate them.

197

With the help of this Manual you will have highlighted a number of areas for environmental improvement in your office practices. The key to the successful implementation of these initiatives is a communicationme to encourage individual participation. This is a m jor challenge andne relevant,focused and interest in^. Head Office staff can often feel removed from activities at site level and therefore not see the environment as relevant to them. This is very c o m ~ o nwith companies where the focus on the p r o ~ r a m is ~ eat rn Group has a high profile o n e n v i r o ~ ~ ereportin nta~ ~ C Award C ~ 1998.Theywerekeen to delopanenvi~onmentalawareness programme to involve office staff. The prog office activities and energy use and generati eries of fact sheets covering environmental issues and the action tha ities. The focus was to relate the core business energy to office activities to make the environm Make the link between daily office activities and broader environ~ental issues. Most people do care about the environment but do notlink this to everyday ork king activities, Make the most of i n ~ i v i ~ uenthusiasm al by involving keen staff in your pro~ramme.They are a valuable resource to ~ o t i v a t others e andexert peer pressure. This chapter identifies the issues toconsider when planninginitiatives, in~luding launching a paper recyclin~scheme. give practical guidance on communication tools to encourage participation, from simple posters to Internet sites, and running a n e n v i r o n m ~ ~ tawareness al train in^ ~ o r k s h o p~e . highli~ht thekey points to running a successful workshop, from good marketing to choosing good speakers. xternal com~unicationi s covered in more detail in Chapter 9 , ~nvironmental report in^.

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~ecuringindividual commitment is the key to the successof your p r o ~ r a m ~ an^ e. environmental initiatives are actively dependent uponstaff i n v o l v e ~ e ~for t , example

paper recycling schemes andenergy efficiency campaigns. Staff need clear guidance on what they need to do to make it work and the environmental and business benefits of the schemes.

Endorsement from a senior level is essential to communicating the importance of the environment programme. Establ~shing an environmenta~ policy signed by senior ~ a n a g e m e n gives t a mandate to the programme (see Chapter 2, Getting Started). Ensure management have a good understandingof the business issues. Individuals need to understand the connection between office practice and wider environmental issues. Give staff clear guidelines on what action they can take in their daily work activities and how they can make a difference. ~romotionof the environment needs to be fun, creative and relevant to daily activities. Environmental issues, particularly waste, can be seen asvery dull. Humour can bevery effective in conveying your message.

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environme~talimpacts of your organisation and the environ~entalissues associated with those impacts.Use this to support~nvironmenta~ initiatives and highlight the contribution that each employee can make. Use simplefactssuchas ‘Every tonne of paper we use contains woodfrom seventeen trees’.

siasm by encour~ginginvolvement. Keen individ~alscan exertconsiderablepeer pressure. See the section on ~ n v i ~ o n ~ e ~ ~ t Teams in this c ~ a ~ t e r Explain thebusinessreasons for your introduction of environmenta~ an programme. ~ l l ~ s t r a t epotential cost savings, f o r t h c o ~ i n g legislation and current bestpractice to remain competitive.

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1 99

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Environmental initiatives can quickly lose momentum without the support of management. However, it is important they are seen to walk the talk. Corporate travelpoliciesandthethornyissue of companycarsareoftenextremely contentious. See apte er 6, ~ u ~ s p o r t Seniormanagementcanoftenbe persuaded by cost savings?

Many barriers are based upon alack of knowledge. Provide clear, factual information to help overcome alack of understanding. Becoming environmentally sound does not have to be a cost; going green saves youmoney.

~nvironmentalinitiatives need to be creatively promoted: don’t send memos to launch your paper recycling scheme. The aim of your promotional activities is to motivate staff suf~ciently to result in a changeof behaviour. This is not an easy task.

Electronic co~municationis a useful tool for communicating and supportinginitiatives. Use daily bulletins on networks or log-in screens to promote initiatives and give feedback. For example, publicising your paper consumption and tonnage of waste to l a n d ~ lwill l help to promote aforthcoming paper recycling launch. Do not send out asingle-sided, two-page memo about waste reduction? Schroders (investment bankers) have a strong cultureof electronic communication to improve business efficiency. Details of the Environmental Policy and programme are co~municated via intranet and Internet which includes specific environmental information on utility consumption and purchasing. Video and audio-conferencing is increasingly used for internal meetings, which has improved communication between offices. For example, the London Group Facilities ~ a n a g e m ~ team nt increasin~lyadvises other European offices.

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This can be donegraphically through avisual image or a cartoon character to brand the e n ~ r o n ~ e n tprogramme. al Running a competition for staff to design a charac200

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ter or image can be a usefulway of promoting involvement and e n t h u s i a s ~ For . example, Her Majesty’s Customs & Excise created a cartooncharacter, the ‘Guzzler for their energy efficiency programme, whichis used on all material ~ r o m o t i ~the g pro~ramme. I f

If you want some thin^ to be read, enclose it with your payslips. This can be an effective way of ~romoting anenvironmental programme but you should consider its use very carefully. Extra enclosures can be seenas creating waste.

SUBJECT:

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~ ~ C A T l ~ ~ :

STAFF:

i

Excise have a well-established environment driven and coordinated by the Energy Efficiency and Environme Unit at New King’s Beam House in Central London. ust toms sites throughout the UK from small VAT offices to Head Office Thecommunicationsnetworkconsistsof an Energya Manager in each region supported by Environmental Care Officers a t a local level. The Environmental Policy Manager was keen to support and encourage the ECOs and other staff by giving them clear factual information regarding environmental issues and guidance on the practical action that can be taken.

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Environmental informationresources were developedfor posting on the intranet to support the Customs & Excise Environmental Policyand link to perfor~ance indicators. Environmental Information Sheets were developed for the s~gnificant environmental impacts of the business: air pollution, climate change, water, waste, forestry and paper, sustainability, biodiversity, ozone depletion and acid rain. These explained the environmental issu S in everyday terms and related them to daily activities. These were supported by Environment~l ActionSheets for each issue and are linked to performance indicators (see Figure C.1).

Its

uality, relevant information is available to all staff in a very accessible form, linking daily activities to the Environmental Policy and perf~rmance measurements.

201

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P e ~ o ~i ~~d ~ i ~ un t oc r ~ s the ~o~ r u environ~entul ~ n issues covered by the C ~ s ~ Qo Excise ~ s ~ n v i r o n ~ e nPolicy t~l

as a pilot project prior to extending initiatives to other areas. Producing guidelines that highlight lessons learned during the pilot can be a useful promotional tool. Guidelines that provide help and support are invaluable for promoting confidence and continuity. Include them in the Environment ~ a n a g e m e n tManual. ~ ~ ~8, ~~ n vt i e~ ~r n ~ eu nnt u~ ~l ~ ~ e n t

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Many environmental programmes start with recycling and are often driven by keen . Recycling is s o ~ e t h i n g The following section looks at how to plan and implement arecycling scheme. Techniques and ideas are equally applicable to other initiatives or a wider environmental programme,

Plan your programme.A few poorlylabelled, tatty boxesfor recycling will not inspire cynics?The environment needs to be perceived as an essential, integral part of the way your organisation is run; not an optional extra. Logistical problems are often overlooked before arecycling scheme is launched. Typical frustrations include not enough recycling bins, bins not emptied frequently enough or cleaners throwing out paper due to lack of communic~tion.Good planning will avoid such pro~lems.For example, identify areas for short-term storage of recyclables prior to launching the scheme, and let your cleaners know! Recognise the implications of the initiative before starting. Failed initiatives are very damaging and it is then very difficult to re-launch. If your staff see a recycling scheme as chaotic, messy and more effort than throwing paper into general waste then they will feel negative about any furtherinitiatives.

203

rn are designing a websitewhich contains results gathered

rveys with other countries develop, the

CD will be updated and

ffice. Co~municate with your cleaning staff to make sure that they know how the new arrangements will work. Recycling schemes do not generally rhean more work for cleaners, but they will have to change how they collect waste. Ensure the recycling scheme is built into your cleaning contract. One company whose staff had thought they had been recycling paper for a n u ~ b e of r years found out after a Wastebusters audit that their cleaners had not understood the system and were putting all the paper collected into general waste bins! Make sure that arrangementswith recycling companies suit yourre~uirements. Liaise with your contractor over practical details: how you intend the scheme to work,wherethewastecanbecollected from andfrequency of collection, Coordinate collection times with the cleaning schedule and to establish communication channe~sbetween the recycling contractor and your or

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h profile; don't be discreet. Use stron publicity material highlighting envi~onmental benefits.Use posters at recycling points and notice-boards to remind staff. Display boards used in your reception or in the canteen will promote initiatives to staff and visitors and provide a central information point.

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Use ~ o s t ~to r sc o ~ ~ u ~your ~ cresults ~ t e

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To maintain motivation, staff need to know how they are doing.

Give regular feedback on progress andenvironmental benefits. Use electronic communication to produce updated results orhighli~ht areas of weakness. Publish regular updates on the environmental programme that can form a regular feature in your in-house maga~ine.These are often seen by clients and can help to promote your environmental position externally.

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Find ways to maintain interest. Incentive schemes are a successful, self-financing way of maintaining motivation. Some organisations achieve this by donating a percentage of cost savings and revenue to an environmental charity or staff social fund. A number of companies link their sponsorship programmes to thevolume of paper collected. There are a number of forestry projects and imaginative sponsorship opportunities available. See C ~ u ~ t10, e r Contucts and Resources The environmental groups Friends of the Earth and WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) have a number of major initiatives operating in conjunction with industry. There are a number of opportunities to sponsor local community projects. For example, sponsoring the production of an environmental video could assist schools with an environmental education programme.

Many recycling programmes fail due to Lack of communication, with the following results: Benefits in waste disposal costs and revenue from quality white paper are never achieved. The company sees recycling as expensive, ineffective and time consuming, and it does nothing for staff morale, resulting in contaminated schemes (for instance, vending cups end up in the white paper recycling bins). Recycling contractors are not keen to collect,duetolack of volumeand contamination levels, Problemscanbeencounteredwhen trying to re-launch the scheme at a later date.

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ell was originally launched in Shell-Mex House in 19 thinking behind the initiative was for a greater ‘Environmental Awa amongst Shell staff, thereby minimising the damage to ‘our’plane ing reduction in Shell costs by being frugal, thrifty and responsib

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achieved by way of an environmental campaign and exhibition. were encouraged to change existing habits through determined perseverance, gentle persistence a The main message was to promote the use of ycle - to change the culture towards waste the 3Rs - Reduce, management and use of resources within the office. One of the most successful initiatives was the ‘office-bin-fre~’ scheme: Conservers rep~aceda paper bins with desktop trays and desktop tidies (the former for paper and the latter for non-recyc~able waste, food stuffs, han~ies, etd. aged staff to segregate paper from waste, and more than ten tonnes of paper were being recyc~edevery month from Shell-Mex House.

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House closed at the end of 1999. However, the introduction of the Shell Conservers scheme had been very successful in raising awarenes~and the coordinators received a number of re~uests to see the scheme r e ~ ~ i c a t e d a t Shell Centre. There was a network of 40+ Conservers wit hi^ Shell-Mex House and they met quarterly to discuss ideas and new initiatives. The scheme received a high profile and board level support as a r u n n e r - ~ ~ in the first ever Chairman’s HS&E awards chosen from 87 entries companywide. Conservers and Building Facilities Services are now in the process of imp1 mentin this scheme at Shell Centre, after successfully piloting it on the 21st floor.

You cannot green the office on your own? The role of the person driving the programme is to act as a facilitator by encouraging and motivating others within your organisation. If a programme is based on the enthusiasm of one individual, which can often be the case with smaller organisations, there is a danger that the programme will come to a grinding haltif that person leaves. Establishing an environment team isan effective way of disseminating informationthroughoutyour organisationand of spreadingtheresponsibility for environmental issues.

Make sure that you have representation from across departments and different levels of your organisation; thiswill provide contact points within each department. Senior level representation will enhance the credibility of the group. Encourage involvement from keen staff. Environmental champions, people who become identified with the issue and whoprovide a useful focus, will effectively communicate the programme. ort thumb er land Heath School, a primary school in Erith, London, is very active in communicating en~ronmentalinitiatives and ensuring participatio~, including a team of litter pickers! There is an Eco-Committee of children with two representatives from years 3-6 (8-1 1 years) and an Adult Eco-Committee with a mix of staff, parentsandgovernors.Thechildren’sEco-Committeemeetonce a week at lunchtime and have deve~oped anEco-code in rhyming couplets. They are working towards becoming an Eco-School.

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The chairperson should be senior and report back at board level. Ensure regular meetings and circulate agendas and minuteselectronically to maintain a high level of awareness. The team can help internalcommu~icationby bringi~gtogether people whodo not generally work with each other.Excellent ideas, particularly regardingwaste reduction m~asures, can come out of these meetings. There may already be informal initi~tivesin departments that can be extended throughout your organisation. Discuss any obstacles and how they can be overcome. Ide~tify andpromote good practice, develop new initiatives and give feedback on existing schemes. Encourage suggestionsfor improvement and ensure that good ideas are recognised.

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08

The team is a useful channel for environmental training to improve understanding andawareness of environmentalissues amongst all staff. Suppliers such as recycling companies, paper merchants and toner cartridge Companies will readily give presentationsto staff to explain the processes involved. Visits can also bevery useful;atriptoa landfill site can be a memorable experience! Make sure team members feel that they have a role in promoting your ~rogramme. Where individuals and departments have made significant contributions they should be recognised.

come tired and bored if they become a talkin not able to achieve anything because they cannot make funding decisions. Ensure that your committee has representativesfrom a senior level, e n d o r s e ~ e n from t the board and a formal channelfor ideas to be co~municated. Staff will lose interest if they feel the effort that they have contributed is not recognised or effectively implemented. This can be avoided by e n c o u r a g i n ~ s ~ ~ g e s t i o n s and providing regular feedback on the successof initiatives.

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Running an Environmental Awareness~ a i n i n gsession will help to i ~ ~ underr ~ standing and increase participation in your environmental pro~ramme.The aim of the training is to motivate people to take positive action to contribute to their immediate environment, both home and office. Raising awareness of t between home, office and the local e~vironmentis important.

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Ensure all departments are represented. Make sure you have a cross-section of de~artments and managementlevels to encourage communication and draw out specific issues. Specialist departments can often make important contributions to your p r o g r a ~ m e . For example, including the Production Department in the training session for London ~ e e k e n Television d (LWT) resulted in obsolete production sets being passed on to local scrap schemes rather thanbeing sent to landfill. News travels fast?This was followed-up by a call to Waste Alert South Thames (see page 41) from the Music Library at Granada ( L W is a Granada company) and 1000 sound effect CDs were passed on toAylesbury Recycling- a communityrecycling programme creating jobs and training for disabled people.

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iers for catering, cleaning and maintenance. if your facilities d out, include your contractor. There is often considerable communication between contractor and client. Including suppliers in your training willimprove understandingandchance o his can be developed into a separateevent for suppliers. See C ~4, Pu ~ ~ t

~

Make sure you highlight successes. Your environment teammay be e~tremely enthusiastic and havealready achieved improvements, but need more support. Encourage them to do moreby recognising good results. Use strong, relevant and concise wording to promote the event. To ensure success the programme needs to be promoted in a creative and interesting way so that it is meaningful. Avoid core business hours. Lunchtime can be popular, especially if food is provided. 1s of commitment and understanding within the organisation and be pitched at the right level. if the environmental me is new to your organisation, thepriority will be to present the business case for the environment rather than providing detailed assessments of environmental effects.

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~ighlightthe mostsignificant environmental effects of the organisation, andexplain the aims of the environmental policy and programme. Include quantified figures in 210

terms of costs and environmental impact (eg tonnes of carbon dioxide). For example, for a bank the most significant environmentaleffect will be i n v e s t ~ ~ n t and lending decisions and considerationof environmental liability. Give examples of the environmental effects of the office and how they relate to the broader effects of the company. Use e~amplesof daily office activities to help put them into context, for example travel to work and how this relates to the carbon dioxide emissions of the company.

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~ i g h l i g h texamples of successfulinitiativesand give quantifiedresults. Give feedback on tonnage of paper collected for recycling, the reduction in volume to landfill and the numberof trees this equates to.Use benchmar~sto give an assessment of current perfor~ance.See ~ e ~ cpage~ 264~ ~ ~ ~ ~ g

,

Give examples of actions that can be taken by all individuals in their daily work activities, for example double-sided copying or notprinting out emails? Explain the environmental benefits of these actions. aining techniques to promote enthusiasm and generate ideas, and facilitate understanding of the issues. For example: role play can be a useful part of environmental awareness training.It is fun and can be very a effectiveway of get tin^ a message across. Assure participation through workshop sessions. Encourage suggestions for improvement; individuals who are actually doing the job and making decisions are in the best position to identify potential improvements to working practices. Include their ideas in the development of policy and action plans. ~ a s t e b u s t e r shave developed a lively training resource aimed to get people thinking, called ‘The Sloth Game’. This encourages discussion and involvement and the game focuses on how to achieve most by doing least! Participants are given a choice of actions for waste, recycling, energy and water and actions are rated by effort against potential costsavings. ~articipants are split up into groups to discuss the options; thesegenerally get quite heated! The winning team achieves the greatest environmental improvements and cost savings with the least effort. A prize for the winning team adds additionalincentive! More information from ~astebusters.

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Specific areas with significa~tenvironmental impacts need morespecialist training. In a typical office these will be waste disposal, building management and purchasing. 21 1

The week itself consisted of a launch of the intranet site providing information on the environmental impacts of activities within the building together with stions for staff action. The final day of the week was based around a Lunch’ using the staff restaurant as a bas for the launch with a special n menu using organic food and an environmental theme. Staff W r a quiz for a mysteryprize, the answers to which were contai tailored fact sheets looking at ergy, water, waste and recycling. A display area with posters, videos and f gifts was also set up.

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as very successful, generating a great deal of interest and subsequent visits to the intranet site. The quiz generated over 200 re~ponses,nearly thin the building. The week established a number of ntal communication, and theme weeks on a variety of gular feature at Unilever House.

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Send staff on external seminars. Sharing experiences with othero r ~ a n i ~ a t i o ncan s ry helpful. A reco~nition that other organisations are working with the same S can be reassuring’ build confidence and increase knowledge and underThe seminarsrun by the~nvironment Council’sBusiness and amme are a good example. O~gani~ations that are memb

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zyxwvutsrqp zyxwvu Getting peopletoturnup. Lackof seniormanagementattendance. Not taken seriously. Environment seen as an optional extra for the greeniesl Preachingto theconverted.

Local authorities, industry associations, government and regulators regularly organise external events to promotespecific environmental issues to a wide range of audiences. organising eventsis extremely time consuming, so make sure they are effective. It is extremely disheartening for everyone involved to put in a lot of work only to find that the event clashes withhalf-term and at~endance is very poor. It is not unusual for delegates to beout-numb ere^ by o r g ~ n i s e r s ~ "

Develop creative marketing material to attract interest. ~ a s t e b u s t e r slaunched a waste minimisation guide usingthe rationing theme from the Second World War, at the Imperial War ~ u s e u mInvitations . were copies of ration books and individually addressed. Even if delegates were unable to attend,they remembered it? Keep it concise andrelevant. Sell the benefits of attending and show that you understand the issues for them. If your event is targeted at the hotel sector, give some hotel examples withcost savings achieved. Good practice examples from the industry can be very effective in generating interest, particularl~ if they are a competitor^ Small businesses are short of time, resources and often don't see environmental issues as relevant. Show you are aware of the obstacles. Use recycled paper and envelopes for promotio~almaterial. Email details and publicise on the webif facilities are available.

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Interesting local venues encourage attendance. The Environment Agency ran an event at London Zoo! It was very well attended and delegates had the chance to look round at lunchtime. Make sure the venueis accessible by public transport and give good directions. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot. It can be counterproductiveto run a workshop on waste minimisation if your caterers use plastic cups, paper plates and thereis excess food. Think about the messages you are putting across. Avoid the use of disposable products,particularly plastic vending cups andindividual milk and cream jiggers. Be accurate on delegate numbers toavoid food wastage. Don’t run a hospitality workshop at lunchtime^ Avoid half-term holidays. Find out best times for your potential audience.Breakfast meetings are oftenpopular. Don’t let events drag on; keep to time. Avoid direct mail by developing targeted mailings. Use the contacts of other organisations involved in the event (eg local autho~ities).Make it easy for people to respond. Fax-backs workwell. They may be an industry expert, but can they present? Choose lively speakers who can engage the audience.Good practice case studies from organisations within the same industry or sector help people to relate to the issues and strengthen the message.

Make sure the venue provides PowerPoint facilities. Avoid use of lists of bullet points which can be very dull and switch people off. Visual aids should supplement rather than dominate the presentation. Keep printed information to a minimum. Avoid lengthy transcripts from each speaker; provide an email option. Ensure all paper and card used is from recycled paper. Delegates generally like to be involved. Ensure that you allow sufficient time for discussion and active participation. People will get far more out of the event if they have had an opportunity to discuss the issues that arerelevant to them. Encourage delegates to identify specific actions to take forward and to feedback progress achieved.

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Dull marketing material ensures that your publicity material goes in the bin! Large untargeted direct mail campaigns will not be seen as relevant. 214

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The hospitality industry is a major business sector throughout the Borough of Camden, with more than 120 businesses providing visitor accommodation. These range from international chains such as the Ibis London Euston, to small independently owned establishments. The hospitality sector, therefore, is a key focus area for Waste Alert Camden.

A key factor in raising the awareness of hoteliers to the business benefits of environmental management was to bring them together at a workshop. The aim was to give them the opportunity to learn from existing best practice and to discuss with other like-minded professionals the perceived barriers to environmental improvements.

The key elements of success can be divided as follows: Venue

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The Hotel Ibis London Euston was chosen as the venue for the workshop. The hotel had recently hada fullenvironmentalauditcarriedoutforthemby Wastebusters and was being promoted by Waste Alert Camden as a best practice case study. The hotel recognises the hospitality industry's responsibi~ity to integrate environmental concerns in its operations and agreed to host the Waste Alert Camden hospitality workshop as a way of s h a r i ~ gtheir experiences. Holding the workshop at the Hotel helped to reduce the running costs of the workshop and was an attractive venue to the target audience, who were keen to see and hear what a local competitor with a recently refurbished hotel 1 was up to!

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As background research for the workshop, the Club nager er liaised with key trade organisations including Green G / ~ ~ ethe , / n ~ e r n ~ ~ i o~no~ ~/ e / s ~ n v i r o n ~ e n ~ a ~ ~ n(IHEI) j t j a ~and j v ethe local region of the British Hospitality Association. This helped to identify existing best practice, resources and the most relevant issues to be covered in the workshop programme. I

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maximum interest and attendance, the ship withtheCouncil’s Tourism ~ e v e l o p m e n tOfficer. The ~evelopment Officer provided specialist advice about the local hospitality industry, sources of information^ the most appropriate timing for the workshop and ages to be included and the presentation of thepromotional materlopment Officer also spoke at the workshop, highlighting wider S international initiatives, future legislation, customer expectations, PR, industry environmental awards and the market in^ advantages of hotels having good environmental performance within the highly com~etitive tourism industry. The tools used during the workshop were specifically tailored to the hotel industry and industry-spe~ificterms and examples were used as much as possible. There is nothing worse than using out-o~-date,over-used information inaccurate information as the basis of your workshop programme. To add further expertise t the workshop, representatives from Thames Water and London Electricity oards were invited to bring displays and inforillustrating the services they could offer to businesses, to help them to their utility bills. They were on hand throughout the workshop to provide and answer questions. In addition, they played an active role in the interactive sessions, adding valuable experience and info ation. To keep d fresh t~roughout theworkshop, brief refreshment b ks were scheduled, with an opportu~ity for questions at the end of the day.

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lopment Officer provided an up to dateand targeted mailing list. This enabled invitations to be sent to contacts at the right I hotels throughout the Borough. The invitations to the workshop were designed as fax-back forms, making it quick and easy for potential delegates to register. These were followed up with a comprehensive ‘ring round’ to increase the numb~rsattending. The Council provided ~dditionalsupport for this and for contacting the delegates the day before the workshop, to keep the workshop prominent in their minds. This also helped to buildthedelegates’confidencethattheevent wasbeingrun efficiently and to check they had all th details they needed. In the event of a legate being unable to attend at short notice due to work pressures, they were much more likely to send another representative if the workshop organisers had recently contacted them. Try to develop a positive relationship with your delegates - even before they arrive - but don’t go too far; nobody wants to be bothered by endless calls and wasteful mail shots. Invitations were backed up with coverage of the workshop in local and trade media and the Waste Alert newsletter.

he workshop all delegates were asked to state what they hoped to get out of the workshop and were introduced s t r a i ~ h away t to the key points on the business case for environmental improvements. This helped to ngage delegates immediately and enabled the worksho~presenters to use

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xamples given byillustrate th key points throughout W programme was as varied as and participatory as kshop was to enable the delegat rganisation. This was achieved using by with the individual i igned hotel process flow chart, 8, Guest’s Eye View’. The aim was ypical route of a guest through a hotel and to help the hotel ntiFy areas where their esta~lishmentcould clean up bothin terms vironmental performanc~.It also provide^ hotel managerswith an practical tool that they could take back into their workplace, to reness of environmental issues. The chart could be usedto facili t a t e s t a f f b r a i n ~ t o r ~ isessions, ng to identify priority areas and whom staff should be communicatin with to minimise the impacts of a guest’s stay in th hotel.

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All delegates were asked to comp~etea feedback form ~ e f o they ~e workshop. This enabled the Club Managerto carry out targeted followof the event. The feedback the workshop and to produce a full eva~uation report from the workshop was very good. Delegat S appreciated the chance to network and learn from each other. ~ e a r i yall indicated that they would be taking action as a result of the workshop. Hoteliers appreciated the timing and length of the event and hav~nginformation on waste, energy and water in one have had in~tructionsfrom head office to hit - they are very busy people! Many take action, and said they now felt better placed to do something positive. Many delegates said that the interactive approach was innovative and worthwhile and much better than listening to speakers! The representativ Thames Water and London Electricity Boards were well used on the day and received a constant stream of enquiries. F ~ ~ I o ~ - ~ ~

ly after the workshop all delegates were sent follow-up in~ormation, also contacted several times by telephone to remind th pport available to them through Waste Alert Camden andto monitor r progress - strike while the iron is hot! One third of the Club’s members from the hospitality sector and a follow-up workshop is planned to target ose who did not attend the first event.

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speakers and not to allow enou delegates to raise issues im~ortant to them, This tends to switch people off and they get bored.

I

To get d e c i s i o ~ - ~ a ~toe rturn s upf you need a very strong case. Where attendance

is delegated, it can be seen asa bit of a ‘jolly’and delegatesmay be more interested in getting away early for a train. 217

It is very frustrating if there is a mass exodus and flurry of mobile phone activity at lunchtime. It is quite a challenge keeping people there all day. Make sure you have a strong ~fternoonprogramme.

The production of good practice guidelines can be a very useful way to extend successful initiatives throughout your organisation. Guidelines that provide help and support are invaluable for promoting confidence and continuity. A consistent approach to greening your office will also help to maximise the buying power of your organisation. For example, the inclusion of all sites in a national contract for paper recycling will help to ensure that smaller offices are able to have their paper collected. Equally, if you have guidelines which recommend specific brands of recycled paper this will help your purchasing department in their negotiations with su~pliers. Many organisations start their programme with pilot projects prior to extending initiatives to other areas. It is not necessary to audit every location to develop a corporate approach.The issues at siteswith similar functionswill essentially be the same. The use of pilot projects allows you to test ideas and produce guidelinesspecific to your organisation that highlight lessons learnt during the pilot. It also enables you to control thedevelopment of the programme by a phased introduction.

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and functions. Take into account regional differences, urban and rural locations and the number of staff. Small outlying offices will have different restraints and logistical problems from large city centre locations. Being seen to take these differences into account will add credibility to the 21

programme. Smalleroffices often feel rather overlooked. A realistic number of sites is between three and five. Make sure that the aimsof the project are c o ~ m u n i c ~ t etod the sites and individuals involved. Identifykeen staff to help you take it forward and appoint acoordi~ator at each site.The attitude of the key staff at each sitewill help or hinder progress, ite audits andidentify areas of impr areas of existinggoodpracti encoura~ement,Identify logistical problems to ensure they are ov~rcome. Find out what help people need.

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Following the audit findings, develop an improvement plan and monitor the results, Provide support and back-up and make sure teething problems are dealt with quickly. Use the results to develop bestpractice guidelines. Make sure the pilot sites benefit from being guinea pigs? Involve them in the development of the guidelines and get their feedback. If the p r o g r a ~ i~s elaunched formally, ask them to give a first hand account of the project. This will personalise the process and help people identify and relate to the project. Use as good practice examples in your annual report/environment report.

Keep the guidelines concise and communicate electronically where possible. Provide practical guidance on the steps that need to be taken to introduce a range of initiatives, highlighting what can be done, how it canbedone,who will do it and the potential cost savings. Includecontactpointswithinyour organisation and details of other useful organisations who can provide help and support. Illustrate the implementation of theguidelineswithexamples from the pilots, highlighting existing good practice and project achieve~ents.

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This Manual guides you through the areas where your office has an impact on the environment and the practical actions you can take to reduce this, A common experience of organisations that have reached this stage is that as time gets tight and initial enthusiasm runs out, environmental initiatives can fade. To avoid this pitfall many organisations haveformal procedures to implement their commitment to responsible practice. The formal approach has a number of advanta es. By integrating responsi~ility for environmental issues into day-to-day work it makes sure that initiatives last beyond initial enthusiasm. It also helps organisations to identify all their environmental effects and potential risks in a structured and systematic way rather than responding to outside pressures onan ad hoc basis. Environmental management has received a great deal of supp makers. Agenda 2 1, the programme for action agreed at the Earth states that ‘Business and industry should recognise e n ~ i r o n ~ e n tmanagement al as among the highest corporate priorities and as a key determinant to sustainable development.’ The UK ~overnmentis committed to promoting a proactive approach to environmental management in order that businesses realisetheir own responsibilities in meeting international commitments and targets. This chapterguidesyouthroughtheprinciples of formalenvironmental m a n a g e ~ e n for t an office. It explains how to systematically review your current position, develop an environmental policy and set out a programme to implement your policy. The chapter does not aim toguide you through a specific mana standard but is applicable to any formal environmental m a n a g e ~ e n tsystem. Information on key industry initiatives and sources of guidance is also provided.

The international environmental management system standard (IS0 1400 1) was developed from the first such standard: British Standard (BS77~0)~ ~ i has c hnow been withdrawn. In addition there is a European ~egulation,the ~ c o - ~ a n a g e m e n t and Audit Scheme ( E ~ A S )and , a local authority version of this (LA-EMAS). These

is a video production, multimedia and publishing company dedicatedtoprovidingenvironmentaltrainingmaterialsforindustryand commerce.Theyprovidecorporateenvironmentaltrainingandawareness ideos, and market environmental programmes and services. The Shot rk team includes in-house writers and directors xperienced in environmental issues. Shot in the Dark are long standing ers of Sheffield ~ e g i o n aGreen l Elusiness Club andhave strong links wi and a number of other environmental initiatives. Thecompanyphilosoph ed onan applicathe tion of principles of Total ent, and Shot in the currently working towards atta

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As an example of a small, office-based organisation i m p l e ~ e n t i n working towards IS0 14001, the company is establishing an policy statement which will d e m o n s t r ~ t etheir commit nt to the continual improvementoftheirenvironmentalperformance. Thempanyis currently sending staff members on a training course for IS0 l4001 in order to gain the necessary skills to impl~ment the system themselves. he policy and training will help establish targe to adhere to. An initial environmental review of ady led to a number of environmental initiatives which have now become common practice in the workplace. ‘These include:

Incorporating environmental considerations into purchasing. ark now buy in only recycled paper and have purchased a plain paper fax machine to eliminate the need forphotocopyingforfuturereference. Environmentally friendly products such as washing-up liquid and recycl toilet tissue are bought in. Shot in the Dark are developing a purchasi policy to ensure buying only from sustainably managed forests and buying in bulk, for example buying videotapes in boxes of 50 rather than I O , avoiding unnecessary slipcover waste. Waste minimisation. Double-sided photocopying has been introduced and the use of scrap paper for printing non-essential or draft copies. ‘Tick and pass on’ memos printed on scrap paper are used rather than individual

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copies. Mugs rather than plastic cups, and a water cooler with large refills, are provided for staff. the Dark recycle used envelopes, sending them to a play scheme to be re-used. dded confidential papers are used for pac cycling bins are placed in the most acc cans are collected for recycling. All re-used and cardboard boxes unsuitable for re-use are turned into compost er car~ridgesare sent for recycling. taff switch off any l i ~ h t i n that ~ is unnecessary. When ry, fluorescent tubes are replaced with slim-line low energy versions.

As well as improving the environmental pe ormance of the office, these initiatives have also proved to be cost-saving ercises. All these initiatives were developed after identifying the environmental impacts of Shot in the Dark's activities, and those areas in which performance could be improved. In summary, moving towards implementing an env~ronmentalmanagement system has already had a n u ~ ~ofe benefits r for Shot in the Dark. These inc~ude: cost savings in both ~urchasingand energy use; the raised awareness of customers and suppliers (for example all the Dark p~oductsstate if they are from recycled sources); reduction of waste and more efficient resource use; good links with neighbours such as the community farm.

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These achievements are in accordance with the business aims of Shot in the Dark: to raise awareness on a gr ater scale and to continue as a successful busin~ss~ r o d u c i media n~ dedicated to environmenta~issues. ~ertificationto tSO 14001 will improve environmental mana~ementat Shot in the them to demonstrate their commitment to the environment to th

management standards have created an international blueprint for integrating environmental issues into the m a n a g e m ~ n structure t of an organisation. They are by n o means the only possible designs for a management system but they d o provide an opportunity for independent certification of an or~anisationfs commitment to responsible environmenta~practice.

Environmental management systems provide a structure for m a n a ~ the i ~environ~ mental effects of any organisation, though this book obviously concentrates on offices. If you are implementing a m a n a g ~ m e system ~t for a n office and factory together on one site, the guidance will remain valid, though you may require more specific ~ a n u f a c t u r i n gbased guidance. 223

Environmental management systems are flexible enough to be applied to a anisation, an operational unit such as a head office, or even a particular ever, the unit implementing the system must have management responsibility for all significant en~ronmentaleffects. For instance, if you share a building with other parts of your organisation you are unlikely to have control over areas such as waste, energy and air-conditioning. This will make it difficult to impl~ment a system i~dependently. To date, management systems have been implemented almost exclusively by panies. However, they are equally beneficial for smaller organisations. st article by Dr Ruth Hillary. IS0 14001 and EMAS are being progressively u p ~ a t e dto make certification more a p ~ l i c a ~to l e small and medium sized enterprises.

No successful organisation leaves the ma~agementof areas like sales and performance to chance. Successful ~ a n a g e m e n involves t setting clear goals and a strategy to meet them. A management system provides a structure in which to set these goals, implement ap r o g r a m ~ to e a~hievethem and monitor the progress achieved. Environmental performance is no different from other corporate goals in benefiting from this systematic approach. The fast changin nature of the issues and the range of interested stakeholders, from the public to insurance companies, make a systematic approach essential. The benefits to be gained are set out below.

er behind responsible environmental practice for busin~ss.A management systemwill ensure thatyou are awareof current and forthcoming environmental legislation and the impact it will have on your organisation and it sends aclear message to regulators such as theEnvironment Agency that you environmenta~ issuesseriously.

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It is extremely difficult to win contracts within industry without a quality assurance system. Environmental performanceis following a similar path.A formal policy and m a n a ~ ~ m esystem nt is already necessary to win contracts from organisations such as British Telecom. Ford and General Motors announcedthat they want their suppliers to have environmental mana~ementsystems in place by 2003, which will affect l 0,000 c o ~ p a n i e s . rocurement policies increasingly affect the service sector. This ements move down the supply chainfrom major purchasers in business and local authority sectors. B&(), for instance, delists suppliers who do not show a commitment to e n ~ r o n m e ~ timp al ement. See C ~ f f 4, ~ ~urchusin~, t~r for more information ons u chuin ~ ~ r ~~ s s~u r ~

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r y slow in adopting Small business have traditionally be are no market bene management systems claiming that vant as small corn and that the systems are costly an he Network for on the environment, Ruth t-1 ement and Auditing investig management systems in SMEs and drivers for adopting an EM do exist, take-up is slow because: I

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ryone understands how EMSs work and what can be gained: it is difficult determinin~what your impacts are and which a the problem is the lack of

rtise and knowledge rather than cost. (have a look at Chap hemes to help SMEs

ment system ladder. The study confirms that SMEs which have im~lementedan EMS have gained real benefits, including: 0

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A range of financial savings and payback periods for investment^ as diverse as the sector itself. d image and improved relationships with stakeholders. Improved environmental perf or~ance ,assured legal comp~~ance and source use. gement and organisational benefits. Improved skills and knowled Attract~onof new business and cu~tomersand the satisf~ctionof cus~omer requirements.

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study found that positive personal itudes towards the environment are often not trans~atedinto actions in s; staff enthusiasm on environ~ental issues is a valuable driving force to improvement and should be encouraged and rewarded! Also, many still feel that their firms have low environmental impact or face ntal issues. ~e hope this book convinces you this is not tru For d e t ~ i l sof t ~ ~e and ~ e s o u r ~ e s

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All business activity has an effect on the environment. It is clearly not possible to

manage all of these effects. An environmental management system will identify those areas of most significant effect, ensuring that the effort you put into your environmental p r o g r a ~ m eis spent on your main effects rather than wasted on minor issues. By systematically identifying all your environmental effects, actual or potential, you will ensure that you are aware of any areas that might lead to liability for environmental damage. Contaminated land, for instance, is potentially very expensive to remedy. Many insurance companies and banks now include environmental risk in their as~essmentsof companies that they insure or lend to.The Co-operative Bank has ethical and environmental criteria for funding projects, and a number of investment banks incorporate environmental liabilities into merger and acquisition decisions. of your environmental effects can also alertyou to any ~ y s t ~ m a tassessment ic potential public relations issues. Public environmental campaigns can develop very quickly and have a major impact. In recent years biotechnology companies have spent a significant amount to counter negative publicity campaigns. Once environmental responsibilitiesare integrated into procedures and descripjob tions it is much harder for initiatives to fade away afterthe initial start-up. If targets are not met, thiswill be flagged up by review and auditing procedures. A management system gives staff environmental responsibilities as part of their day-to-day work. This avoids the problem common to thosefollowing a less structuredapproachwhereenvironmentalinitiativesareloadedontoonekeen individua~. One of the first steps for a local authority or government department encouraging a community response to environmental initiatives is to put its own house in order. A management system will help with a systematic approach to improvin~environmentalperformance in council buildings and to integrating sustainable development into the services the council provides. The government and Local ~ o v e r n m e n Management t Board have identified environmental management for local authorities as a major part of the W1 initiative,

The key problem of a formal system is that a lot of time, and paper, can be spent on bureaucracy that could have been spent onactual improvements. Vague policy statements and action plans can drawn be up without anyreal improvements taking place. 226

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There are three key steps to preventing your envi ronmen t a1 programme turning into a paper chase. The first is to integrate new procedures into the existing management culture of your organisation rather than creating a large pile of new documents. The second is to encourage ownership of procedures by the staff who are going to be carrying them out. The third is to use a system to improve your management rather than seeing the end result as a badge, such as IS0 14001.

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management systems will help:

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environmental iegislation;

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Very few small companies have environmental policies let alone environmental ~ a n a g e m e n t systems. Environmental issues are often recognised a s important but they are outweighed by other pressures. The everyday pressures of running a business in a competitive world tend to leave little time to respond to anything not seen a s an immediate priority. Small companies can, h o ~ e v e r gain , considerable benefits from environmental awareness. Energy ef~ciencyand waste minimisation measures can be implemented with no capital investment and can produce surprising savings. A simple environmental policy and action programme can have marketing benefits and may well become essential for selling to some companies and local authorities.

There are two independent formal EMS standards. The standards set out an approach to environ~entalmanagement that has been widely taken up even w ~ e r e formal certification is not being sought. The advantage of independent certi~ication of your environmental programme is that it will give your customers and the public confidence that you are taking real steps to improve your environmental performance. The disadvantage is that these standards can require high levels of bureaucracy to comply with their requirements. An organisation that does not already have an IS0 9000 quality system in place needs to consider very carefully whether it is ready to work in this way. Environmental management standards are part of a general European move to encourage companies to improve voluntarily. The first environmental m a n a g e ~ e n t system standard was the British Standard BS7750,which was based on the approach of the widely used quality standard BS5750. In Europe EMAS was developed specifically for manufacturing companies. The International Standards Organisation has now developed a standard, IS0 14001, that has replaced BS7750 and is recognised worldwide.

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Certification for compliance with the standard is carried out by external certifiers who are formally accredited under a scheme run by IJK Accreditation Services (UWS). Companies are certified to IS0 14001 on a three-year basis, after which they are audited again if they want to retain the standard.

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The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme is a voluntary European Union scheme which aims to encourage evaluation and improvement of environmental performance and the provision of relevant information to the public. Unlike IS0 14001, EMAS was initially only available to industrial companies and local authorities. However EMAS is due to be extended to all types of organisation in the first half of 2000. See ~~~s~ e v i s i o o~ el s ow EMAS is compatible with IS0 14001 but requires the publication of a concise and comprehensible statement for each participating site to ensure that the public and interested parties underst~ndthe environmental impacts of the site and how they are being managed. ~ublicationis usually yearly and should contain up to date information on progress against the o~jectivesand time scales agreed by the site’s m a n a g e ~ e n team. t This environmental statement must be verified by an independent, accredited environmental verifier at the end of each cycle. The policy, programme, management system and audit procedure also have to be validated. Verifiers are accredited under a scheme run by UKAS on behalf of the DETR. Revisions to the legislation which set up EMAS in 1993 were proposed in 1999. The ~ a i changes n proposed were:

The standard would be applicable to organisation must make the case that its environmental effects are significant. The standard would be applicable to the o ~ ~ f f ~ irather s ~ ~than i o ~ to a site (an organisation is defined as anything with a central administrative control). The organisation applying for EMAS can treat each branch separately or apply for certification for all branches (a ‘corporate EMAS’) if it can d e ~ o n s t r a t esufficient control over other branches. th could be used in advertisements for products, activities and se letterheads. SMEs would be required to have s made. SMEs would be able to work in partnerships with local authorities on a regional basis in gaining EMAS and there may be potential for a stepped process towards certification, as is the case in Belgium, which has a five-step staging process towards achieving certification.

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Additional requirements for registration: 0

Organisations would be required to make publicly available tiv s for environmental perfor~ance,as well as against them.

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Or anisations heir need efforts mcommunicate to

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include data which allow the reader to make performance. . . On defining significant demonstrate how their have been selected,and also that the signi~cant environmental aspects have been identified,

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(The best sourcefor updates onEMAS in the UK is ~ . e m a s , o r g . uwhich k includes details on the regulations, and the register of certified bodies.) These changes to the legislation should come into force in the first half of 2000 if approved by the European Commission. The EMAS Bridging Document sets out the issues which need to be addressed by organisations with IS01 4001 who want to progress to EMAS. The document has three major aims:

To identify those areas where EMAS requires EMS and auditing procedures not covered by IS0 14001. 2 To highlight those areas where IS0 14001 and EMAS already agree which may not be readily apparent. 3 To identify further requirements of EMAS outside the scope of the IS0 14000 series. 1

Copies of the document are available from the EMAS Competent Body. See C ~ ~ ~ t I O , ContactsandResources The document will be of less relevance when the proposed changes to EMAS are introduced. The DETR, in association with the Local Government Management Board (LGMB), has established aversion of EMAS for local authorities called LA-EMAS. The system is voluntary and is aimed to help local authorities improve their management of environ~ental issues.A n u m ~ of ~ rcouncils have already been ~alidated toLAEMAS.The scheme is closely modelled on the industrial version but has three key differences: l

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The standard EMAS scheme was specific to a particular industrial site; for LAEMAS a management unit is a department or division. The industria^ scheme can be achievedby one site in a company.A local authority can also register one de~artment; however,a corporate overview and coordin~tion schemeis also required and the whole authority must commit itself eventually to seek corporate registration.

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zyxwvutsrq zyxw The industrial scheme focuses on the environmental effects of production activities such as energy use and air pollution. These direct effects are also applicable to local authorities but the main impact of, for instance, a planning department, is likely to be in the way the service is delivered. LA-EMAS would be ridiculed if it concentrated on the energy use of the planning department and ignored the effect of a planning decision on an application to open a large quarry. The local authority scheme therefore also aims to manage these service effects.

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You may choose not to aim for certification to a standard. You may not feel they are relevant to your company structure or size. However, should you choose to, IS0 14001 and EMAS are both applicable to any office and service sector company. Only IS0 14001 is internationally recognised, however. For local authorities LA-EMAS is the best option. It has been 5pecifically adapted and there is a dedicated help desk run by the LGMB to assist authorities with the process. For manufacturing companies the choice between IS0 and EMAS is more difficult. A company should take into account that EMAS is a more demanding scheme, which requires a detailed public statement and should, therefore, have greater credibility. The choice, however, will probably rest on which is most recognised in the particular market sector in question. You are not tied to the standard to which you first choose to be certified. EMAS and IS0 14001 have many similarities and once you have achieved one standard it will be a much simpler process to fulfil the criteria of the other.

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Industry initiatives There has been a lot of independent work done on managing the economic, social and environmenta~aspects of organisations but very little on ~ r a w i n gtogether these three areas of corporate respon5ibility into an integrated management system. This could be the next generation of management systems, especially with the progress being made on TBL and sustainability reporting. Research began in 1999 through a government contract awarded to Forum for the Future and the British ~ t a n ~ a lnstitute r~s on a ~ r o g r a ~ mtoe develop a Sustainabilit~Management System. However, there is still much room for improvement in the take-up of established e n v i ~ o n m e ~ tmanagement al systems in most sectors of industry in the UK and abroad.

23 1

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The Environment Business Forum (EBF) is a service for all businesses that want to aim for environmenta~ excellence.The Forum provides an opportunity to further promote your environmental position. The EBF is open to any company with a stated aim to improve its performance. It is a two-way commitment: 0

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by the CBI, to help businesses improve their en~ronmentalperformance; and by business, to demonstrate the action which they are taking.

The Forum has a voluntary agenda which businesses should work towards.This nating a board level director with responsibility for the environment, publishing a corporate environmental policy statement and report and having a management system in place. In return, businesses get a regular update on developmentsin environment, health and safety (EHS) news, access to regular regional events and Contour, a members’ service that allows you to benchmark your EHS practice and performance. The International Chamberof Commerce runs the Business Charter for ~ustainable ~evelopment.The charter consists of l 6 principles for environmental management which the ICC e n c o u r a ~ enterprises ~s and associations to use as a basis for pursuing environmental improvements. Theseprinciples include: rated management. To inte rate environmental policies, programmes and practices fully into all business as anessential element of management. Process of improvement. To improve corporate policies, pro~rammes and environm~ntal performance, taking into account technical and scienti~c developments, consumer needs and community expectations, and toapply the same environmental criteria internationally. Prior ~ s s e s ~ m e nTot . assess e~vironmental impacts before starting a new activity or project and before decommissioning a facility or leaving a site. Products and services. To develop products or services that have no undue environmental impact and are safe in their intended use, that are efficient in their consumption of energy and natural resources, and that can be recycled, re-used, or disposedof safely. Research. To conduct or support research on theen~ronmentalimpacts of raw materials, products, processes, emissions and waste associated with the enterprise and on the meansof minimising such adverseimpacts.

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Some of these principles are quite demanding, but the Charter is focused on helping businesses achieve sustainable development, and so is quite forward thinking in its approach.

232

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ing that it is ~ o r ~ani n ~ The details of the sation works but the ba

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Policy

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The successful ~ e v e l o ~ ~ofe na tsystem is dep ndent on com.mit~entfrom. the e n v i r o ~ ~ e n t ma al syst est level to carry it thr ram.me of change. It will ficant re~ourcesto d will 33

impact on all areas of your organisation and the way all managers and staff carry out their jobs. efore committing themselves to this change, top management will need an of the implications as well as the benefits. If there are members of nagement who aresceptical about environmental issues, a presentation covering the key business drivers outlined in Chapter l can help to bring them on board. I t is equally import an^ to keep staff informed and involved from the start.When you ask staff to take on new roles and responsibi~ities, the benefits must very be clear if it i s not to be dismissed as another nagernent gimmick. A guide to s ~ c c e s s ~ ~ ~ c o ~ is~ given u n i cin~~~ i o n~7 ~ ~ t e ~

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Your office has a range of effects on the environment, some of which you may not have been aware of until pickin up this Manual. For many of these effects you will already have management procedures due to legislation and cost. To develop a system to manage and reduce these effects you need to know what they are and how you currently deal with them. Thusthe second stagefor an organisation developing a formal environmental management system is a structured assessmentof its current position. Most offices that have decided to consider a management systemwill already have taken some action on environmental issues. Having worked through this Manual you will have identified a range of practical actions you can use to improve on your performance. This work can be used as part of the more structured approach of a formal review.

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The first step of a review is to establish whois going to carry it out. One successful approach is to set up aproject team of staff who cover the key areas of your organisation. You may already have a group looking at environmental issues on a less f o r m ~ basis l on which you can draw. Using a team-based approach will draw in a wide range of knowledge and spread the load.It will also involve a range of staff in the environmenta~ programme at an early stage and improve communication between areas. Consider whether the group has the necessary range of skills and expertise to conduct the review. If you have no staff who have experience in environmental management and auditing, thent r a i ~ i nin~these areas will add value to the review. owle edge gained at this stage will also be helpful in developing the rest of the ~ a n a g e m e nsystem. t If training is required then you need toidentify what the needs are, how staff will be trained and who will conduct the training.

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The project team should define carefully the scope and aims of the review before starting. Different areas of the review can be allocated among the members of the work group. Guidance on what topics to cover within the review is dealt with in more detail below.

If you are dealing with a large, complex office it can be helpful to divide the process into a scoping and detailed review. The aim of a scoping review i s to do a first stage assessment of all of your environmental effects and to identify those that merit further investigation. Once you have id en ti fie^ key areas you can unde~takea detailed review focusing purely on those areas. The two-stage review is recommended for local authorities in the LGMB guidance. Local authorities have a wide range of environmental effects and a scoping review can make the process less daunting and can save time costs.

It is best to use a range of methods to gather information. For instance if you are examining your existing recycling scheme, a simple check of waste bins will tell you a great deal. The most common methods are ~uestionnaires/worksheetswhich require staff to fill in information, interviews with key staff and direct observation. When deciding on your methods you should consider how similar projects work in your organisation, the area you are e~aminingand what information you already have. To minim is^ your work, make sure you do not duplicate this information. Your review should cover the following key areas: Main e ~ v i r o n ~ e

Identify your key at in more detail below.

tal effects. This is a key part of the review and is looked

elevant to your operations. Each chapter in the Manual contains a section on legislation which will help you to identify these regulations. This information should not be taken a s a comprehensive listing of environmenta~legislation. Where legislation applies to your organisation, seek further details from the appropriate re~ulatorybody. The Environment Agency is responsible for enforcing a large amount of environmental legislation and can provide further information on specific areas. Record any policy commitments by any wider corporate body or industry sector of which you are a part.

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r practices to manage important cost areas such easures for items suchas hazardous chemicals. ing your environmental man proce~ures rather than im

aluable information as to current wea~nesses in your control of environmental issues. For instance your recyclin have complained about contamination of paper for recycling with other wastes such as~ l a s t i ccups and food wrappers.

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n the environment is the most timeconsuming and challenging part of a review. These effects, or impacts, can be wide but are d e f i ~ e dby the BSI as ‘Any change to the environment, whether or beneficial, wholly or partially resultin from activities, products and s e ~ i c e of s the or anisatio~’. to assessing these needs to be compreh nsive but focused on bogged down identify in^ th ~nvironme~tal effects herever possible you should seek to and ~uantifythe eyou tosettargetsandmeasurethe you are making. rvic

ove ect effects of the office;however, many offices will also have effects arising from the services they provide. The differenc i l ~ ~ s t r a t ebyd the example of a solicitor’soffice: l

2

‘Direct effects’arethosewhichresultnot from thenature of theservice provided, such as legal advice, but from the general activities required to provide that service, eg energy use, transport use, paper purchasin , etc. These areas are covered in detail in the Manual. ‘Service effects’ are thosewhich arise from the actual service, such as provided in areas like takeover bids, contamin~tedland and environ ecific to the organisation and are outside the scope of the Manual.

For some office-based organisations, such as anoffice attached to afactory, service effects will not be relevant.

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ions into activities, products and services as ap~ropriate to your organisation. For direct effects you can divide your offices by the chapters of this Manual: office waste, purchasing products, p u r c h ~ ~ i n ~ services, office equipment, building and energy mana~ement, and transport. To assess service effects you can use thedifferent departments in your

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office. For instance, a solicitor's office could be ivided into the different legal areas it deals with. Stage 2 Identify the inputs and outputs from each of the areas you have di~ided your activities into. For example, inputs for transport would include cars and fuel and the outputs would include carbon dioxide emissions and waste tyres. You should make sure you have covered inputs and outputs in the following areas:

0

emissions to air; discharges to water; waste; contamin~tionof land; use of raw material and natural resources; and other local environmental issues.

Some inputs and outputs such as office waste will arise as part of your normal daily operations. Others may only occur during abnormal conditions or in an emergency such as a fire causing release of h a ~ a r d o ~ cleaning s and ~uildingmaintenance chemicals. It is important that you consider these potential issues as well as the normal ones. You should also take into account past incidents and future plans. For example, if you are planning office relocation the effects of your energy and transport may change dramatically.

Stage 3 Identify the envi~onmentaleffects of the inputs and outputs, both positive and negative. For instance, the key environmental impact of carbon dioxide release is contri~utionto the ~ r e e n h o effect. ~s~

Following this assessment process, focus on the effects that are important enough to require more detailed consideration and management. Keep in mind the following criteria when assessing your inputs and outputs to determine whether they give rise to effects that are s i ~ n i ~ c a n t . 0 0 0

*

Whether there is any relevant legislation. The scale of the effect. The importance of the environmental issue. The chance of the effect occurring.

The review should include recommendations for improveme~ts.While reviewing your environmental position, the project team is li~elyto have plenty of ideas which will help to set objectives and targets. At this stage the review does not need to contain polished and costed initiati~esbut a wide range of ideas to take forward. The review is also a good time to encourage ideas from other members of staff. It is usually those carrying out a particular activity that have the best ideas as to how it can be done better. 237

The review report will be used in all the stages of your management system. It should contain a clear presentation of the review. In particular it should detail environmental effects in a systematic way to allow objectives and targets to be developed to set your organisation on the path to continuous environmental improvement. eview of significant environmental effects a step further by compiling a formal register of all your effects based on your earlier assessment. This is a major componentof EMAS. The advantage of this approach is that you canclearly justify the objectives you set and evaluate and report progress objectively against the register of effects. For organisations with a high environmental profile, such asmanufacturing companies or local ~uthorities,this is a major advantage. For other organisations it is important to carefully weigh the advantages against the resource demand.

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A useful way of summarising thefinding of your review is by analysing the strengths

and weakness of your organisation and the opportunities and threats environmental issues present. Table 8.1 illustrates how youmight present your analysis.

A. Model has committed itself at top level to an environmental management system A. Model has in place procedures to ensure environmental liabilities are considered in investment decisions

There is a lack of knowledge and measurement of the organisation’s environmental effects Environmental management is currently on an ad hoc basis There is a lack of knowledge of relevant environmental legislation

Environmental issues not taken seriously by middle management Environmental improvements would show A. Model as a responsible company Environmental management will assist in competing contracts. for Environmental measures could provide cost savings by cutting waste

There is increasing pressure from customers for A. Model to demonstrate that it is an environmentally responsible company

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An environmental management system could create bureaucracy

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Staff may well see someone giving them u' Establish a review coordinatquestionnaires or interviews about how ing group and plan scope of they do their job a s a threat. If this is the case you are unlikely to get the informat~on you are looking for. It is important to involve all staff from the beginning so they see it as a positive exercise which they want u' Assess your environmental to contribute to rather than a threat.

Since all aspects of your organisation have dures and previous incidents some effect on the environment there is a u' Make r ~ c o ~ m ~ n d ~ t i o n ~ danger of being swamped in information based on your findings when undertaking your review. The key is to follow a structured approach such a s that outlined above so that you know what information you are looking for and can ignore anything that is not relevant.

An environmental policy is a mission statement for your whole organisation and is integral to your company's management system and environmental principles. Its aim is to set out and communicate key environmental commitments to all stakeholders. The policy should therefore be a clear statement of the organisation's overall aims and approach. It should be possible to implement the overall aims in the policy t h r o u ~ hpractical action. It is important to realise that your aims may be subject to close s c r ~ t i n y and you should make sure that you are ready to fulfil them. For instance, a broad policy commitment to minimise air pollution from your activities will need to be implemented with specific actions and ~ e a s u r a b l eimprovements. It is not necessary for the specific actions or targets to be detailed in your policy; these should come in the environmental management system you put in place to implement it.

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Involve senior man ~ g e nmt ~

Senior management should be involved in initiating, designing and supporting the e n v i r o n ~ e n t apolicy. l They should fully understand the business reasons behind the policy and the resource commitment that is required to implement it.

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section, will give you a ood idea of your main nmental impact, These should serve as th basis for the specific areas to becovered in the policy.

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ations have publicly available environmental policies. ~btaining e can help you with ideas of layout, style and content for your own policy. Those in your own sector of business will be particularly relevant. Both the CBI and the ICC Charter provide guidance on what the cont e~ and ~ ~ s o ~ ~ c ~ s principles of your policy should be. See C ~ f f ~I O t, Contffcts The Local ~overnmentMana ement Board EMAS H e l p - ~ e produces s~ g notes for EM EM AS. Thes provide some of the most useful ement system.They are aimed at local authoriti S, but the principles will for any organisation,

ader corporate body your environmental policy policy. However, you should not just copy the corporate approach but ensure you take account of specific issues w h i c ~affect your organisation or division, The environmental policy should also be consistent with health and safety policies.

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A policy that is not clearly endorsed by the senior managementof the organisation will have no credibility for staff members orfor stakeholders suchas customer^ and the public. Your policy should therefore be signedby a senior mana~er. To have credibility your policy must cover the key environmental issues affecting ation. The policy of a nuclear power station, for instance, will not be sly if it does not mention potentia~ radioactive emissions. Equally a policy for a bank whichdid not mention investment would havelittle credibility. ~ o n t i ~ imp ~ o ~ s

t should not be seen as a one-off process butan ongoing ironmentally sustainable or~anisation.The policy should therefore include a commitment to continuous improvement of environmental performance. This should be taken to mean an improvement each year in overall environmental performance rather than an improvement in all areas at all times.

A commitment to meet all relevant legislative and r e ~ u l a t o r y c o ~ ~ i t m eisn t s required by environmental management standards. More ambitious companies often set apolicy commitment toaim to exceed the requirements of legislation. 40

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s clear c ~ ~ r n i t r n ~ ~ ~ ~ To be credible, your policy should include clear environme~talc o m ~ i t m ~ nthat ts

can be i m p l e ~ e n t e dthrough practical action.

cerns of the public is a key principle of an ~ ~ v i r o n aware business. You should publicise your policy within the local c o ~ m ~ n i t y , perhaps through local media or by providing local ~ u t h o r i t i with ~ s a copy. The policy should also be available to anybody that requests a copy. concis

The policy should be written clearly and concisely with the minimum of jargon. This will encourage people to read it and help to ensure that it gives a clear m e s s a g ~of your aims and values. model policy (see box) to provide an exam le of how these key features and the CBI and ICC guidance can be put to policy. The policy is n o ~ i n a ~ for l y a banking organisation. It therefore focuses on the enviro~mental impacts of the banking service provided a s well a s of the operation of the ~ u ~ i n ~ s s ,

protection and sustainable development as key priorities for all organisations and as essential for the future success of our business.' This Policy sets out how we aim to fulfil this commitment in the office by continuously improving our environmental performance. ~e will:

* * * * * * *

assign responsibility for implementing the office environmental policy to a senior manager; minimise our use of resources by app~yingth Recycle'; dispose of any remaining waste safely, and in accordance wit lat ion: minimise our energy use in all areas of our office through s the use of energy- fficient heating, air conditioning, l i ~ h t i n gand o ment; ~ o n s ~ d the e r environmental impact of products and decisions and purchase ~nvironmentallypreferable p reduce the environmental effect of commuting to w efficient use of travel and by ~ n c o u r a ~ i n cycling g and encourage staff ideas and keep staff informed on new envi

To implement the environmental policy we will put in place an plan each year setting out our env~ronmentalobjectives and

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There is, of course, no ideal policy; your policy needs to reflect the main issues for your business, to be realistic as to whatyou can achieveand to fit with the style of your organisation.

If your office is part of a wider organisational environmental management system it can help to have a specific office policy to make sure that specific issues relating to the office are not ignored. An office policy does not need tocover areas that do not come under its remit. The model office policy provides an idea of what this might look like.

anisations use their environmental policy to reassure everybody about how wonderful they are and fail to make any meaningful commitments. Such a policy will have no credibility within or outside the organis~tion. All organisations have scope to improve their envi~onmental performance.A recognition of the impacts your organisation is having, and credible commitme~ts to improve, must be at the heartof your policy. Organisations and individuals can sometimesfail to realise thata policy statement means what it says. ~eaningfulenvironmental commitments will mean change in all areas of the organisation. Once you have made a public commitment then failure to fulfil the policy will mean you lose credibility and you will be open to negative publicity. You must make sure that all your staff are aware that policy statements will have to be carried through and are not just meaningless standard statements to appease the greenlobby.

The basic aim of any environmental programme is to reduce your impacton the environment. Your environ~entalpolicy will have committed you to this aim. The objectives and action programme are where you turn these words intoreal change. The environmental effects identifiedin your environmental review will provideyou with the basis for setting your objectives, 242

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Not all signif~canteffects need to be addressed at once but they will need to be managed in due course. Each objective should have an implementation programme with management responsibility and resources identified together with targets and performance indicators to monitor progress.

It is important to set demanding objectives that are seen to be making a real change rather than just reinforcing the status quo. They must also be achievable. Failure to achieve your objectives will be demoralising, so consider carefully whether you are being realistic or whether you need to concentrate on a smaller number of key issues.

Objectives should closely reflect the policy commitments they are designed to implement. In setting objectives you should take into account the follo~ingcriteria: 0

* * 0

* 0

policy commitments; the review of environmental effects; legislation and compliance issues; ease of implementation; views of interested parties; and cost, time and potential savings,

Each objective should be supported with a specific action plan, detailing who is going to do what and when they are going to do it. This will link the objectives into the management system you use to implement your policy by establishing management control and ~ o n i t o r i n gprocedures.

ear exactly what each of your actions is trying to achieve. Confusion can arise between those which aim to achieve an actual improvement, such as reducing energy use, and those which aim to gather further information or achieve better control. The LGMB EMAS guidance notes (EMAS Help-Desk, 1996) divide actions into three categories: 0

*

*

Improvement actions that directly fulfil your commitment to continuous improvement, such as installing energy efficient lighting. Further analysis actions that improve the information you have in order to judge the importance of an environmental effect, such as surveying how staff commute to work. Control actions that ensure an actual or potential environ~entaleffect is properly controlled to minimise risk, such as a procedure to ensure hazardous waste is properly stored and disposed of.

If you are clear as to what type of action you are setting it will make it much simpler to define and monitor it. An extension of this approach is to have three separate 243

y was founded over 50 years ago and has grown to become independent commercial stationers, and a one-stop-shop supplying office products, bespoke printing, business services, furniture, and office automation services. Dudley supply offices nationwide and in Europe. ~ l t h o u g hDudley's commitment to the environment has been integral to the company since establishment, this has been formalised in a environ~entalmanagement system (EMS). Established in 19 has enabled Dudley to ensure continuous improvement in all enviro~mental impact.The framework for the EMS is foun ' nmental policy. In September 199 , the company gained accreditation to IS014001 and now has three sit certified, including their new state-ofthe-art national ~ i s t r i ~ u t i ocentre. n The company has and con~inues to wina n u ~ bof~ high r profile environmental awards.

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ave approached environmental challenges in three areas: ment §y§tern deveio ntalaspects and thei of initiatives have been developed including:

tive management, a n u m ~ e r

ertification of Environmental ~ a n a g e m e n t xtension of environmental management ac S new ac~uisitions. Esta~lishmentof Environmental lntranet and on-lineenvironment~l database. ~ c t i o nplan development for continuous improvement.

and has invested in a numb e the impact that our influence on our suppliers may have on the

supplier assessmentand ~uestionnaire.

auditprogramme

and vendor ass

* *

*

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Environmental product development such as wood and paper products sourcing through VVWF95t- Group membership and FSC. Communication of environmenta~specifi~ationsand development of on-line environmental enquiry faci Iity. Envir o n ~ e n tI asemina rs and training .

ust omer reIat io ns hip deveI opment In addition to a responsibility for environmental impacts in the supply chain and within internal operations, Dudley feel they have a responsi~~lity to customers to reduce the impact they have on the environment and have initiated a number of programmes:

*

* *

Customer environmental enquiry database deve~opment. Provision of environmental consultancy to customers, eg environmental policy development/revi ew. ~rovisionof support to ~dentifymaterial inefficiencies in the order/delivery process.

The key results of these activities are: nvironment a I rna nageme nt system deveIo pment Control and r e d u c t i o ~ programmes established for waste streams, emissions, energy consumption and resource use (see www.dudley.co,uk). * Three sites certified to BS EN IS0 14001 in 13 months * Four further sites with environmental reviews under way. * Extensive environmental information available on intranet accessible from every computer in the company. * Database management system for environm~ntalprogrammes, aspects, register of legislation and enquiries available to all staff. * Key performance indicators set on environmental management established for group management board. ~ e s p o n s i ~ i l i t i eclearly s defined to cover ~anagementof all environmental aspects.

*

*

* *

ly chain mana~ement 75 per cent of products now sourced from suppliers with environmental policies. lntro~uctionof FSC certified products including the first ever FSC A4 copier paper. Environmental seminars at Dudley Business Show.

ustomer reiat ionship More efficient system for handling of environmenta~enquiries. * Increased involvement with sales force in providing an environmental service function to customers. * ~eductionsin ckaging use through collaborative initiatives with a number of customers.

245

olicy commitment^

cedure:

per

kga~eline:

Develop general good housekeeping guidelines for staff

1 June 2000

Place poster above all photocopiers to remind staff to double side

1 March Clerk 2000

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~ewillminimiseourwaste, o natural resources and our ene areas of our business To reduce office waste arisings by 5% by January 2001 A ~anager Total figuresof dif~erentwastestrea progress against previous figures, to recorded on a monthly basis person

Office Manager

Production of guidelines

2 days

Completed on time

Production of poster

1 day

Completed on time

Train all staff in 1 January use of electronic 2000 mail for internal communication

IT Manager

Number of staff trained

1 hour training for 300 staff

Training of 50 staff delayed - lack of resources. Completed 1 March

Assess all computer report print-outs to examine whether information could be accessed online

IT

Number of reports assessed

1 day

Completed on time

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246

1 June 2000

Manager

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programmes: improvement, control and further analysis.

r teria Ac ions you set should fulfil the following cri eria. e

0

0 0

e

Be clearly designed to achieve the objective you have set. Have a specific person responsible for achievement. Have an identified timescale. Be measurable so that progress and achievement can be assessed. Have adequate resources allocated.

In Table 8.2 we have set out a model programme structure with some example actions. The actual structure you choose should be tailored to fit in with your existing ~ a n a g e m e npractices. t

# implement your policy commitments I / be demanding but achievabte u" cover your main envimnmen-

u" cover any issues of legislative compliance you have identified Your action programme should: # have r e ~ p o n s i b i ~ ~and tie~ resources defined r/ be monitored against a given u" achieve the abjective you have set

Your policy should include a c~mmitmentto the overall objective of continuous improvement as well as specific aims. You do not need to tackle all areas at all times but your objectives need to be sufficiently ambitious to show you are making a real commitment to improvement. Objectives that just reinforce the status quo will undermine the credibility of your programme and the morale of those implementing it.

objectives that you do not have the time or money to fulfil will undermine confidence in your environmental programme. You should concentrate on a relatively small number of demanding targets.

environmental management system requires that you document the key procedures needed to implement your policy. In most people's minds documentation means bureaucracy, and bureaucracy is to be avoided at all costs. Yet all organisations use letters, filing systems and records as part of their day-to-day work. The key is to not shy away from developing procedures but to ensure they form a streamlined system with only essential documents.

&I

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Your documented procedures need to translate the environmental policy and objectives into specific responsibilities for staff. In other words who does what when to make sure that thepolicy is met. Procedures also need to cover what happens when things go wrong and the corrective action that will be taken. This documentation will help to ensure that staff are aware of their responsibilities, provide continuity when staff take up new jobs and give you a set of procedures against which the systemcanbeaudited. The documentscouldincludeorganisationalcharts, emergency plans and procedures describing specific tasks. Your environmental programme links into this system by documenting who is responsible for implementing environmental objectives, how they are going to do it and when they are going to do it.

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Tr ai ni n

There will inevitably be some n e ~ o u s ~ e amongst ss your staff about the changeof culture that environmental management will bring, The aimof a training programme is to overcome this concern by giving staff a clear idea about their roles under the new system and to equipstaff with the skills they need to make that system work. The previous chapter outlined a number of methods for raising staff awareness which will help you toimplement the training which you need. To implement training for all your staff you will need a structured programme which ensures thatall staff are trained,including induction training for new recruits. You will need to identify what training staff are going to receive and whois going to deliver it. Training programmes for staff should cover thefollowing areas:

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The system and whatit means tostaff. A11 staff in your organisation shouldfeel involved in the development of your system from day one and understand the business reasons for environmental management. As you put the system in place, train your staff in how your environmental policy and procedures will function and the importance of conforming with these. This training must emphasise the potential environmental consequences of not following the procedures. Staff also need to understand their individual role and responsibility in the system. The environmental effects of their work. In your review you will have identified your key environmental effects. The staff who arecarrying out theactivities that give rise to these effects should be aware of them and why they are important. They need to understand how improved performance of their activities will reduce these environmental effects. Specific skills. In some areas specific skills training will be required to enable staff to put in place an objective. For instance an office with a product design team will need to train designers in considering environmental issues in the design process.

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ase of use

You should aim to complementexisting management procedures rather than set up an entirely new management system. Very often it will be a case of signposting 248

existing documents concerned with areas like health and safety or emergency procedures. This should avoid the development of a weighty tome stuffed with procedures. For organisations that have a quality system in place, this will provide a base on which to add environmental procedures. It can be of help to create a central manual as an overview of the system.

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The danger is that you will create procedures that sit on a shelf and which everybody ignores until there is an audit. To avoid this, each document should be owned by a specific job holder who is responsible for keeping it up to date and ~ a k i n gany changes. That person should be involved in writing the procedure so that it reflects what they actually do. Any documentation should be clearly written with a minimum of jargon and have a clear purpose.

A ~ a n a g e m e n system t needs to be self-repairing to be successful. ~onitoringand

corrective action when problems arise are key features of a successful system. There is little point in setting objectives if you never check to see they have been achieved. Checking should occur at three levels: On a day-to-day basis the management system should include checks on compliance, For instance, your environmental objectives and p r o g r a m ~ eare to a set timescale. Where targets are not met, this should trigger corrective action. The purpose of a regular audit is to have a more c o ~ p r e ~ e n s i vand e independent assessment of how the system is working. Auditing will highlight areas of weakness in your system and the strengths that you can build upon. The audit p r o g r a m ~ e should cover: *

whether en~ronmentalmanagement activities are happening as planned; and the effectiveness of the system in fulfilling your environ~entalpolicy.

Audits should be carried out by a trained person who is independent of the area he or she is auditing. If you do not have a specific audit team you s h o ~ l dtrain a range of staff to carry out auditing. This has the additional benefit of being an effective method of increasing understanding of environmental management.

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The management review is aperiodic strategic review of the effectiveness of your system by the top-level management. It provides an opportunity to examine the success of the policy andmanagement system in respondingtothebusiness drivers that led to its adoption.

Reviews may not be carried out frequently enough to result in performance improvements. Even when they do, the resultsmay notbefollowedup.Theauditshould monitor why failings have occurred ant targets have not been met, whose respon sibility this is and what remedial action wil be taken.

Openness to the concerns of interested parties is an important principle of an environ~entally aware organisation. We have looked at the importance of internal training and com~unicationfor the success of the system in the previous chapter. Equally important is externalcommunicationwithstakeholders.Chapter 9, Environmen~alReporting, contains detailed informatio~ on increasingly an common means of comm~nicatingwith stakeholders, the publicly available environmental report. However, there are other ways in which organisations report on their environmental performance:

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The first principle of environmental reporting is to be open to complaints and communications from interested parties, suchas the public and customers, regardingyourenvironmentaleffectsandtorespondpromptly. When settingyour environmental policy and prioritising your objectives, take these co~munications into account to ensure you aretackling the issues of concern to stakeholders. A publicly available policy provides a basictool for taking a moreproactive approach

to demonstrating your environ~ental awareness and commitment to responsible practice. It sets out your aims and values in a short and clear format which will be accessible to a wide range of people. Many organisations now have their environmental statement available on their website, or incorporated into their annual reports or product brochures. 250

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Local authorities have also seen benefits of a public environmental statement which enables them to report back to residents on their e n v i r o n ~ e n t aposition ~ in a rigorous way. Sutton Borough Council and Hereford City Council have both published statements a s part of their EMAS programmes. These have the added e ~ ss ~ ~ ~ u advantage of being independently validated. C o ~ ~ ~o rn o ~ l and ~ u i ~ e l for i ~ ~ nsv i r o n ~ e n i ure~orting l are given in detail in ~ ~ ~ 9, ~ t e r E ~ v i r o la1 ~ ~eporting ~~n

~ e p o r t i n gyour environmenta~performance is the last step in implementing an environmental management system and should draw together the efforts your organisation has made to improve its performance. An ~ n v i r o n m e n tmana~ement ~l system should deliver two things: e

A continually improving system for managing your environmental impacts

*

Ongoing improvements in your environmental performance.

Essential to this is the careful running of the system and its elements. You may decide that you would like to employ a consultant. If so, bear in mind you will get much more value from your consultant’s work and be in a better position to evaluate competitive tenders if you:

e

have a clear understand in^ of the structure and aims of the mana~ementsystem you are implementing; and are able to provide a consultant with a clear brief of the work you want them to carry out.

The consultant vou choose should. as a minimum. have: d

e

*

experience of implementing environmental management systems; and un~erstandingof your business area.

Alternatively, or in addition, you may decide to use an electronic support system to document and organise your system, or to work with an external org~nisationto implement or improve your system. Some possibilities are listed in Chapter 10, Contacts and Resources. Chapter 9, Environmental Reporting, also gives some ideas on how you can use an environ~entalreport to document the successes of your system, and to let interested parties know you have one in place!

25 1

252

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Environmental reporting is the public disclosure of a company’s environmental impacts and performance, and has increased significantly in recent years. This growth reflects a shift in corporate culture, which recognises the benefits and necessities of adopting a more accountable approach to the way in which companies operate. Being open in providing reliable information on environmental performance for target setting and co~munication purposes is also accepted as good business sense.A growing number of organisations now publish information about theirenvironmentalperformance: from carbon dioxide emissionsandpaper consumption to staff training and partnerships with local community groups. This trend can be attributed to a growing acceptance that Companies do not operate in isolation - responsible only totheir shareholders - but under a ‘license to operate‘ granted by a much wider rangeof interested stakeholders.

‘ ~ r t u o ubut s uncompetitivecom~anies wjl~ not be purtof ourfuture. social^ or environmental^ destructive c o ~ ~ a nmust i ~ snot be partof ourfuture. The challenge is to create the conditions where social and environ~~en~~l bene~~s go hand in hand with competitive udvuntage.’ ~ a ~ i Val~es n g Count (ACCA, 1998) This chapter explains how to take the first steps towards ~onitoring and reporting

your environmental performance. The business case for envir~nmental reporting is discussed, followed by a general assessment of reporting practice in the UK, Europe and internationally. This chapter tells you what to report on, how, and who to report to. The issue of verification and giving credibility to your data is then discussed, and the chapter concludes with advice on how companies can maximise their returns and make the most outof their reporting efforts. Specific guidance is given for small companies, and priority is assigned to those stepswhich will be of most benefit to the company.

As we mentioned in the introduction, the UK government has taken a long-term view with regards to introducing future legislation. International~y, other govern-

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ments have moved more quickly in this area. The Dutch and Danish governments have introduced mandatory reporting requirements onparticular industrial sectors, These companies must annually reporttheir key emissions to air, land and water, and amounts of energy, water and raw materials used, along with the polluting substances in products and wastes.Dutch companies must produce a reportfor the regulators and one for the public, which must be actively promoted. In the US, the federal government has taken three approaches to reporting: federal environmental laws, information for emergency response requirements, and broad ‘right-to-know’ laws such as the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), a computerised database that includesinformation from over 22,000 facilities.

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This section gives a brief rundown of reporting practices on a global and UK level. Then the quality of reports is discussed, withreference to the UK FTSE 350.

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The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to develop a common frameworkfor sustaina~ility reporting which can be adoptedby companies around the world. The guidelines for reporting are being piloted by companies who will be giving their views on the usability of the guidelines as a framework for their future sustainability reports. W Ocompanies, Bristol Mayers Squib in the USA, and Eastern Group here in the UK, have already used the guidelines as a framework for their own 1999 reports. It is hoped that the GRI will incorporate a range of disparate reporting initiatives around the world into one universally adopted standardised approach to reporting.

ons Environment Programme and uses a listof 50 key indicators to gauge company performance. These include more advanced measures like ’eco-efficiency’ and life cycle analysis &CA). Eco-efficiency measures the energy and resources required to produce aunit of product and the waste produced,in a measure of the ecolo a1 efficiency of the production process. LCA is expl~ined inC ~ a ~ t 4, e r~ u r ~ ~ a s i n ~ IS0 14031, which gives guidance on what measures and indicators companies could use for reporting, has just been added to the internationalenvironmental standard series IS0 14000. The list contains over 100 indicators; however, it makes no demands on compulsoryinformation which companies must report for IS0 14001 certification. EMAS, on the other hand, makes quite specific demands on companies certified to it to report certain information annually to the public,

The Centre for Tomorrow’s Company runs a programme with the ultimate aim of ensuring that theUK encourages and fosters an environment which creates world254

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ache1 Jackson, Social and E n v i r o n ~ e n t aIssues ~ Mana

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A national scheme that highlights and rewards the best environmental reports is the Environmental Reporting Awards scheme (ERA), founded by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. The objective of the ERA is to identify and reward innovative attempts to communicate corporate environmental performance, but not to report on good performance itself, and has significantly improved the standard of environmental reporting in the UK. Companies who have produced relevant, reliable, complete and verified jnformation in their reports have been rewarded with the Award. Previous award winners for best overall environmental report have included British Telecom, British Airways and Anglian Water, and other award categories have included best first time reporter, best small and medium sized reporter and more specific categories for site reporting and supply chain reporting. The scheme is open to both private and public sectors, and any size of company or organisation in the UK. The ERAS are now a major national initiative, reflecting the growth in corporate environmental reporting and increased demand from stakeholders for corporate environmental accountability. In 1999, a record 64 companies took part in the scheme. The Awards scheme has proved influential in the development of corporate environmental accountability around the world, and has been mirrored in many other countries. The ERA also identifies trends in the development of reporting practice. Many companies are responding to pressure to widen the scope of corporate public accountability by including social data in their environmental reports. Examples of social measures include: employee statistics and conditions, community support and involvement, and stakeholder consultation information. The scheme has also identified other trends such as a move to Internet reporting and the production of other types of environmental communication media, for instance CD ROM and video. The ACCA Environmental Reporting Awards judging criteria are mentioned later in this chapter in Getting the Most out of Your Report.

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Pensions and l n v e s t ~ ~ Research nt Consultants (PIRC) The Pensions and investment Research Consultants (PIRC) survey assesses information provided in both companies’ annual report and accounts and separately produced environmental reports. They produce a very detailed analysis of leading companies’ reporting practice on environmental and social issues in the UK,covering the FTSE 350. See Chapter 10, Contacts and Resources

255

9

9

0

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nies that ‘report’ has risen from 65 per cent to 70 per cent. (This includes comp~nieswhich provide a one-sentence statement in the report and accounts, to those giving a fully fledged and comprehensive report with external verification.) Some sectors have improved ~ r a ~ a t i c a lthe ~ y proportion : of the fin an cia^ sector reporting rose from 52 per cent to 70 per cent. 35 per cent of the companies reporting used websites to promote their report. The proportion of companies using some form of external verification for their report rose.

Source: PIRC (1 999)

class businesses.The Centre’s work is based on theprinciple that to create sustainable businesses the company of tomorrow will operate differently from yesterday’s company. This means constantly adapting to meet the demands of stakeholders and adopting an inclusive approach to management, identifying the needs of business partners and measuring the company’s success in doing this. This ties in toresearchintosustainabledevelopment,andtheCentreaimstoprovide businesses with practical guidance on becoming ‘Tomorrow’s Company’. See C~apterIO, Conta~tsand Resources

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in which they ask a seriesof questions on a company’s engagement in en~ronmentalissues. The response to this survey is in effect a wide-ranging but simple environmental report, and BiE publishes an annual surveyof findings which gives a picture of the efforts of the FTSE 350 to improve their environmental performance. The DETR has been producing a steady flow of guidance, beginning with a brief guide to getting started on reporting, then a detailed guide on reporting greenhouse gas emissions and waste. This will be followed by further guidance on water reporting. See apter er IO, Conta~tsand Resources ful booklet which aims to help with running a cost-effective, environmentallyaware office. Throughouttheguidetherearetablesto complete which form the basisfor a simple environmental reportand will help you bench mar^ yourperformance. Th ee guide is availablefromthe ETBPF! See Chapter IO, Conta~tsand Resour~es

Following the DETR’s guidelines for company reporting on ree en house Gas Emissions in 1999, the new waste guidelines are a useful and comprehensive guide for businesses who wish to report in a meaningful way on their waste figures. The guidelines contain eight steps to lead companies through the reportin from identifying a waste champion responsible for driving the programme forward to reporting progress to a range of audiences. There is also useful information on contacts and sources of help and conversion tables to work out the volumes and w e i ~ h t of s your bins.

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Copies of the ~ u i ~ e lcan i ~be~ ds o ~ ~ l o a d e ~~ f~~ o. ~~ e or t o~ ~~ ~obyev ~. e~ ~~ t e l ~ ~ h on o n0870 ~ 1226 236.

Environmental reporting has a number of benefits. Most of these come from satisfying pressures which will eventually come to bear on most companies. out their employer ’s environmental performance. Raising awareness of the import~nceof individual action will encoura tion and improve your results. will identify whether you are com relevant legislation and a ~ ~ r e s s i nst~keholder g concerns. ~ t a ~ e ~ o l d or~anisationsand individuals that literally have a stake in your bu commonly include customers, regulators, media and a range of interested or campaigni~ggroups. The first step in both of these cases is being aware of your current performance. you can’t manage’ ~nderliesone orting key performance information in a meaningf~lformat will provide a periodic snapshot or a ion of consumption trends, environmental impacts and oper provides a strategic view of your operations and allows the environmenta~dimension into decision-making.

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Reporting puts in place a ~ e c h a n i s mfor addressing the concerns and enquiries of a range of stakeholders and reduces future business risks by identifying areas of weaknesses. These may be in your own environmenta~performance or that of your suppliers.

257

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S of communicating with customers and the wider community. It allows a company to promote itsefforts to attain high environmental performance, and to exceed government requirements. A report can be used to satisfy the concerns of a range of stakeholder groups, and is therefore a valuable public relations tool. Some companies distribute their environmental reports to customers or make them available through the Internet, which is an efficient means of reaching a large audience. , The e n v i r o n ~ e n report t gives a positive public image of the company, and perhaps a competitive edge over its non-reporting rivals. This is likely to become more important as the government continues itspolicy of naming and shaming the non-reporters, as it did for the first time in 1999.

For the first-movers in the reporting field, mainly utility and chemical companies, reporting arose as a response to direct pressures from outside; to demonstrate to regulators and other key stakeholders that they were making positive moves to account for their operations. While reporting cannot be used as a defence in cases of legislative breach, it will help support any case with ~uantified data and an auditable recording system.

AS contain guidance on environmental reporting and encourage it as a key element of an effective environmental m a n a ~ e m e n tsystem. Companies registered to EMAS must produce an environmental statement that includes environment~l performance data which allows the reader to make year on yearcomparisons. IS0 14000 suggests guidance only on the possible choices for environmental performance indicators which could be used for monitor in^ and reporting purposes. ~ ~ f f ~8, t~nvirone r ~ e n t f f ~~ f f n f f ~ e ~contffins e n t , more inf o r ~ u t i o non i n t e ~ r a t i n ~ r e ~ ointo rtin~ the ~ f f n a ~ esystem ~ e n ~

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258

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zyxw zyxw Practical action

Having gained board-level support for reporting your performance, you need to make sure that you direct your energies and resources into the most cost-effective and ~ ~ p r o p r i away t e of reporting, Bear in mind the follo~ingbefore deciding on which approach to use:

Be clear about your target audience and make sure that what you report on is what they want to know. It is important to recognise that an environment report does not have to be a flash, glossy publication. It is more ~mportantto make sure that the content is of high quality and relevant to the audience. For most office-based service companies, key stakeholder groups will be: shareholders, lenders, investors, insurers, employees, suppliers, customers and local com~unities. report and how it will be disseminated. You may include a section in your annual report or produce a separate environm~ntreport. Identify communication mechanisms such as websites, share olders' meetings and staff. any companies publish an environmental report durin the end of the financial year, to supplement the Annual Report. This will be determined by your corporate priorities and the amount of resources available.

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which areas of your business and which regions of your cover and make sure it is clearly defined. For example, decide if you are going to cover all your office d include your s targets for when to extend the scope of cover . Decide what ti s e will not be able to company ' s operations your report will represe o t h ~ ~ iyou track performance accurately year on year. For example, CCU plc began reporting in 1999 with an environmental statement covering their UK operations, In 2000 they will produce their first full environmental report includin data on their worldwide operations in over 60 countries.

Don't attempt to cover every thin^^ It is far better to progress towards a fully comprehensive report in planned stages than to produce a flimsy report which promises more than it can cover. The key is to prioritise the data you do report to ensure you cover your key environmental impacts. The most monly reported areas are energy, water, waste and travel and the existence of c any environmental policies or initiatives.

259

at the outset that the ~ r i m a r yaudience for the report would be

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t esign - A4 and s o m e ~ h a 'cor nd commitments for individual

HORN EM1 d ~ m e r g e d The . EM1

A staff survey was conducted after the 1998 report, to try to determine whether the approach was working. Two dominant responses were that electronic delivery would be more resource-efficient and that employees wanted something more tailored to their own part of the business. The 1999 report tried to address those needs - the full report was on the web, with a search function in the section on worldwide activities; its print companion was a brief review of EMl's environmental footprint and issues by business area, printed entirely on waste sheets from CD booklet production.

The re~ortingprocess has: 0

0

*

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acted as a continuous mechanism to raise awareness: provided impetus to introduce change and sustain local programmes; and enabled better management (equipped with measurement) of key impact areas.

Public recogn~tionof early reports (one ACCA award as Best First Timer and two as Overall inner) prov~deda further boost to awareness raising, motivation and commitment. Staff feedback to the 1998 internal survey, with a 14 per cent response rate, indicated that: 0

0

*

54 per cent had first become aware of the environmental programme t ~ r o u g hreading a report; close to 60 per cent were encouraged by the report to find out more about and/or implement environmental initiatives in their company; 78 per cent were encouraged by the report to be more 'environmentally friendly' themselves.

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Based on prior years' consumption, the move to the web in 1999 saved two tonnes of paper.

~ o n t r j b u t eby~ Kate ~ u n n i of n ~the ~~1

~ r o u ~

L) approach combines social, economic and environmental performance in a single report. The majority of companies producing TBL or sustainability reports (such as Shell and ESP) have done so as an extension of their environmental and health and safety reporting systems. TBL may represent the future of corporate reporting, combining financial accounts, environ~entaland social performance of a company in a single report. These types of reports are becoming increasingly complete in addressing the impacts of the company's operations and in particular tackling issues such as investment and supply chain assessment. They will also become increasingly relevant with further r e ~ u i ~ e m e n t s 26 1

for companies to disclose information such as the Statement of investment Principles required from pension funds from July 2000. The Co-operative Bank produced their first ’Partnership Report’ in 1997 and now produce an annual report with three key sections: Delivering Value; Social Res~onsibility and Ecological Sustainability. Not all potential information will be easily obtainable when reporting for the first time. Prioritise which information is of most use in reporting terms. Key figures for reporting are energy and water consumption, tonnage of waste to landfill and recycling rate. To reflect EETR concerns, report corporate travel distances and energy and transport related CO, emissions if the data areavailable.

The government recently published its greenhouse gas reporting guidelines and is encouraging all sectors to contribute to achieving the international targets agreed to at theKyoto Conference on Climate Changein 1997. The DETR guidelines enable carbon dioxide and other gas emissions to be associated withtravel and energy use, for example 0.44 kg of carbon dioxide is emitted in the generation of one kilowatt of electricity (based on grid average for 2000). This process is not quite as daunting as it sounds and requires the use of simple conversion factors to make estimates. Energy use is one of the most important contributors to your organisation’s carbon dioxide emissions. Electricity, gas and other fuels are consumed for heating, lighting and appliances, on the premises. You can calculate your emissions from your electricity and gas bills. This is the total volume bought in for catering, sanitation and other purposes. Calculate from your water bills. This splits into corporate travel and commuting. For corporate travel, quantify the number of business trips made, distances travelled and transport mode. For commuting, quantify the staff numbers travelling to your premises by transport mode, and their journey distances. Many companies have facilities for joggers and cyclists, and operate car-share schemesfor getting to work.To quantify your travel, look at mileage detailskept, or estimate the numberof vehicles in your fleet, or the number of business trips made andby what mode. Monitor how colleaguestravel to and from meetings, for example 50 per cent of national journeys by rail, 50 per cent by petrol car, average trip length in km, and so on.

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262

Often handled by a range of contractors, monitoring your waste production will require details on the types of waste produced, how it is disposed of, and what quantities are disposed of. Any recycling schemes also need to be detailed, with the aim of ~uantifyinglandfill tonnage, recycling and incineration rates. Guidance will be available from the DETR along the lines of that produced for greenhouse gases. Contact your waste disposal contractor to determine the amounts collected from your premises each year or use the ready-reckoners in Chapter 3, Office Waste. Just as important a s the ~uantifiableimpacts of your organisation are the processes you have in place to deal with these. Some companies have a comprehensive environ~entalmanagement system (EMS) in place. Report any systems you have in place and any certi~catedstandards you are working towards attaining. Does your company have any formal environmental policies, or are environmental considerations incorporated into existing procedures for various departments; for example, do purchasing or banking policies include environmental criteria? Many companies now have general environmental policies, but some have r / Be aware of. the reasons for separate policies for integrating environand potential benefits of mental criteria and considerations into reporting - these will help to corporate t rave 1 decisions or purchasing procedures, for example.

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I / Be realistic about the

Best practice on reporting includes reporting on those areas mentioned earlier under sustainable development, such as financial investments and impacts. The actual expenditure made on environmental initiatives, such a s new technology and staff training, is a positive indicator of your commitment to the environm~nt.Some companies report their charitable donations to local communities, staff costs, and the financial institutions they deal with for pensions, insurance, banking and investments. Are any of your financial services such a s company bank accounts, insurance or pension funds held with 'ethical' financial institut~onsor funds, such a s The Cooperative Rank and Friends Provident?

resources you can devote to the task. Plan your report in stages so as not to take too much on at first. Prioritise

d Define the scope of your report clearly, aiming to incorporate all areas and aspects of business eventually u"' Make use of readily available information but make sure you prioritise reporting on key figures such as energy use and waste

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.” .

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Bear in mind some common weaknesses of environmental reports: Producing a glossy, attractive report with little accurate and meaningful data. Attempting too much, and not reporting on the key aspects of environmental impact. * Ma~ingit too long and inaccessible to the audience. * Not reachingtheaudience. * Lackof feedback

* *

Benchmar~ingis now well established as a means of assessing a company‘s performance. ~ystematicallymonitoring and reporting your performance will help you to develop a picture of the environmental ‘footprint’ of your office, which can be compared with industry benchmarks. By this method, areas of strong or weak performance can be highli~hted. ~ e n c h m a r ~ i norganisations g and initiatives have become a prominent feature in the national press and arebeing used increasinglyby the government in its effort to encourage en~ronmentalimprovements from industry. For example, the results of EiE’s Index of Environmental ~ n ~ a g e m eusually nt result in high profile articles with headlines suchas ’ ~ r n i the n ~tables on the green slackers’. In n b l e 9.1 we have includedsome key benchmarks against which to compare your own environmental performance and, for demonstration, that of a fictitious service company. Obviously ~ e n c h m a r ~ change s annually with improving industry performance and changing environmental policies and priorities. All the benchmarks referred to in this Manual represent only accepted industry benchmarks available at the time of publication. The grey boxes represent the grey areas! These are areas of corporate env~ronmental performance wheregood or typical practice ~enchmarksare yet to be established. nbles 9.2-9.8 allow youto summarise the effectsof your activities inkey areas. n k e n together, these provide a limited pictureof your en~ronmentalperformance. in dust^ benchmarks are given where relevant, against which you can assess your current performance,

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Use the tables in Chapter 3, Office Waste,to calculate your baselinefigure for waste. The Good Practice ~ e n c h m a is r ~200 kg per member of staff per year. You should also calculate your recycling rate, the proportion of your total waste stream thatis recycled.

264

F:

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n international investment banking and asset management ir London Group (now Schroder Salomon Smith Barney) activCity of London. Schroders have a number of environmental ves in place including paper and glass recycling, energy use monitoring nvironmental purchasing criteria, and have responded to the annual usiness in the Environment Index for Environmental Engagem~ntsince 1997. Environment Index survey, respondents were ormation on environmental performance and to nt of their monitoring systems. To respond fully to the Index and f their own environment~limpacts, Schroders carried ts and staff facilities and examined the business activity: the environmental roducts and services. Also covered were the environvel, the environmental performance of a new tiveness at communicating with stakeholders

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its waste figures including types, disposal ity, gas and water consumption; and annual travel distances for corporate rail and air travel. Energy and transport-related carbon dioxide emissions were also calculated using DETR reporting guidance ~chrodershave benchmarked their data on environmental performance against industry standards to highlight strengths and weaknesses in performance. Targets have been agreed for various impacts including:

* *

data

10 per cent reduction in waste by 2001. 10 per cent reduction in energy use by 2001. per cent reduction in water consumption by 2001. London courier deliveries from vanand ansfer of 5 per cent central motorbike to bicycle by

oders quality of information for rting, based on actual r e ~ ~ i n estimates. g not s The exercis new ways of measuring communication, such as hits on environmental websites, the number of videoconferencesheldenumber of groupsSchroderscommunicate with on environmental iss

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Benchmark waste per person (kg~ear) from Chupter 3, Oflice Waste tal annual waste disposal (kg)

Number of staff in your organisat ion

~ a s t per e person (kg/year)

~ e n c h m a recycling r~ rate (%)from~ h a ~ t3,e rOffice Waste Annual waste recycled (kg)

Total annual waste disposal (kg)

ecycling rate

(%I

zy

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Carbon dioxide emissions A key indicator of the en~ironmentaleffects of energy use is the amount

of carbon dioxide released. Carbon dioxide is generated by the burning of fossil fuels and is the main gas contributing to the greenhouse effect. .4 Total COz e~issions(kg per m2per year)from Cha~ter5,

B ~ i l ~~ a~ nn a~ ~t e ~ e ~

Gas Oil

Coal

-

-

X

0.30

=

X

0.44

=

Total fossil fuel kWh/m2

TotaI electricity kWh/m2 Total CO, emissions kg/m2/yea r

-I 267

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Smaller office 151

79

Naturally ventilated open plan

79

~ir-conditioned open128 plan 178

97

Headquarters 21 1 14

151

33

54

33

59

3.50

54

85

44

757

4.50

226

86

15414

0 358234

6

8

145 20 13 229

Source: Energy Use in Offices (ECON.19) (Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme, 1998)

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Compare your baseline figures with the Good and %ical industry averages above. Use these ~ e n c h m a r when ~ s setting your targets.

baseline figure for water use. A good practice b e n c h ~ a r kis 7.7 m3 per ember of staff per year (EnvironmentAgency, ~ 0 0 0 )See . Case Study 9.3

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f carbon dioxide released is also a key indicator of the environmental effects of section transp ers in Chapter 6, an sport, to calculate your to vels vary too much by type of organisation to provide a performance benchmark but the total will enable you to oni it or your progress.

268

of the Environment Agency is to protect and enhance the environment while contributing towards sustainable development. It is committed to conducting activities and operations in a manner that reflects environmental practice. An important part of mi n i ~i s i n gthe impact of the activities is estab~ishing,measuring and reporting on performance targets.

In recent years water consumption at the Agency’s various premises has been calculated per employee basis (per FTE - full time e~uiva~ent). This was then compared with an Agency-wide target of 7.7 m3 per FTE per year, based on a 30 per cent reduction on the accepted norm for office buildings (of 50 litres/person/day). The failing of this generic approach is that the Agency operates a large number of sites, ranging from standard office buildings through to laboratories and vehicle depots. The different sites have different water use re~uirements and conse~uentlythe application of a uniform target based on the number of employees is not necessarily the best method for setting a realistic target. The Agency’s ~ a t i o n aWater l Demand Management Centre was asked by the Environmental Management Unit, which monitors the Agency’s environmental performance, to come up with a tool that will enable each site to calculate its ‘benchmark’ water consumption, based on site-specific information. The bench mar^ calculation will be derived princi~allyfrom washroom use but will be sensitive to factors such as the presence of canteen facilities and even the proportion of male to female staff!

The process of developing the benchmark tool has necessitated each site completing a water use questionnaire. This has helped site managers think about the ways in which water is used on the site, which is a useful exercise in itself. An important decision to make in calculating the benchmark is where to set the target. In general we have adopted the approach that water-using appliances should be more efficient than average but not necessarily the most efficient on the market. This keeps the resulting targets challenging, yet realistic. The tool is still undergoing development and the data collected so far suggest that benchmarking water use in the Agency’s laboratories and fish farms will require further investigation and possibly detailed sites audits.

269

However, the Agency aims to set new site-specific targets for water use using chmarking approach for the majority of its offices in 2000. Once the arking tool has been set in place, future targets can be calculated by altering the assumptions to reflect changes in technology, for example the reintroduction of dual-flush toilets. This would then have the effect of setting a more stringent benchmark. In 1998/99 the Environment Agency met its target of 'reducing water use in offices and depots to 30 per cent below accepted norm for office type or 1996/97 consumption, whichever is the higher'. During the year the Agency actually used 65,400 m3 of water, which represented a reduction of 30.4 per cent on 1996/97, or a saving of over E40,000 based on industry average water and sewerage charges.

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C o ~ t r i b u t eby~ David Sayers, ~

~

D

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C

"able 9.7 will provide a summary of your environmental position, at least for your quantitative impacts. Insert your key performance figures in the empty boxes after working through the relevant guidance in the chapters. By updating this yearly you can develop an objective measure of the success of your programme in reducing the environmental footprint of your organisation. It is important, however, that you also compare your performanceon qualitative aspects like purchasing and communication. The benchmarks given in "able 9.8 can be determinedyourself by keeping up to date through the information sources provided in Chapter 10, Contacts and Resources.

zyx zyxwvu zyxwvuts zyxw .7 Total annual distance (h) and COz emissions (kg)per year from C~apter6, ans sport

X

Petrol car Diesel car

X

Short haul flight Long haul flight Train Total annual distance and CO, emissions

X

2?0

X

X X

1.28 0.20 0.1 2

-

0.18 0.1 1 0.06

__ -

__ -

-

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~ n v i r o n ~tal e nf o o ~ ~ rt i n

Waste

200

kg per member of staff per year

Recycling

70

Percentage of total waste

Energy use

See Table 9.5

Total CO, (tonnes)

Energy-related emissions Water Transport

Total kWh

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7.7

m3 per member of staff per year

No established benchmarks available

km per staff member/total transport-related CO, emissions

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ere is a range of help available to companies, from Internet-based texts to free are accessible and useful. See C ~ a p 10, t ~ ~Contacts and

ttedly larger organisations, for whom the process of reporting is a logical extension of an EMS they already have in place. For smaller companies who would like to report, the good news is that a lot of the information you require is already easily available from records you currently have, or can obtain easily. Wastebusters are publishing their first annual environmental report in 2000. See C~apter10, Con~actsand Resources

Making your report meaningful ”Racking and normalising are both crucial elements of an effective reporting strategy, enabling consistency and comparability in the data you report. g key environmental performance indicators (EPIs). EPIs are a group of measures which quickly give an idea of a company’s performance in key areas. Common examples are annual energy consumption and waste generation. The environmental report is not a snap-shot of a company’s impacts, but a means of actively following the trends of a company’s operations. Are your office premises consuming more energy and water and p u ~ p i n gout more waste each year, or are they becoming leaner, slimming their bins, and ‘greening the office’? 27 1

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kg waste per person per year tn3

water per person per year

kWh per person per year

you may install different heating, lighting or air-conditioning systems. It is therefore necessary to ensure that wherever possible you normalise reported data. ~ormalising data involves using units of measurement which are appropriate to the quantity being measured. Data should indicate the key factors which influence performance, making year on year data much more comparable. For example, GDP is measured per capita, not land area. If we measured GDP per square kilometre, we would have no direct measure of whether the average citizen was becoming wealthier, as variations in figures would reflect population densities also.Similarly, water consumptionis not measuredper square metreof office space, butper person - a square metreof office space doesn’thave any water requirements! n b l e 9.9 gives examples of normalised data, though you will have other units of me~surementwhich are more appropriate to your organisation. It is important that any measuresused will show any changein performance, andwill not become meaningless when circu~stanceschange. After going to the trouble of collecting and presenting data on your environmental performance, it would be nice to think this was enough! ~nfortunately,it is not always. though you may have disclosed plenty of information on your organisation’s activities, there is no guarantee that thiswill be accepted as accurate at face value. Reported information holds far more credibility if it has been independently verified by an external party. Most companies have sought some degree of independent endorsement of their review along the lines of the independent audit of a business’s financial accounts. An in-depth public report is a requirement of EMAS and ~ a ~ i d a t i oofn the report is an important partof achieving EMAS. The aim is to give the reader a measureof assurance that the data presented are accurate, present a comprehensiveview of operations, and are clear in their scope and limitations. There are a number of ways in which you can achieve this. W O techniques in use are:

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272

Independent assessments of reports by environ~entalor quality assurance consultants (such as BSI and Lloyds Register Quality ~ s u r a n c e )which , involve examining the report cont nts and process and site visits. The consultants will produce a verification statement which can be included in your environmental report, but only after assessing both the systems used to collect the data and the traceability of the data itself. takeh holder panels included at some or all stages of the reportin helps ensure the information you report is relevant, and that you commun~cate on what they would like to see. For e x a ~ p l ein , a chapter on conservation initiatives or ground maintenance, it may be useful to have a wildlife group involved in the reporting process to d e t e r ~ i n what e is the key infor~ationto report. The more i~aginativeways of assurance-providi~gare likely to yield better results as they satisfy c o ~ p a n i e sneeds ’ to engage stakehol ers at the same time as giving credibility to the final report.

your environmental report accessible Even where companies have spent a lot of money and staff resources developin an e ~ v i r o ~ m e n report, ta~ the target audience may still not find it easily accessible. onmental report on the homepage of your or~ani~ation’s web-site, have a specific te~ephoneumber that people ca call to have a report sent out to them; don’t spoil your efforts to report by maki it difficult for people to get hold of it! ort when tendering for new contracts; even if a customer does not specifically ask for environ~entalcredential able to demo~strateyour proactive approach will give you a competitive e vite their feedback on the contents and any areas they feel can be i ~ ~ r o v eEmp~oyees d. often tend to be the most active users of environmental information and are keen to know what their employers are doing to improve performa~ce.The report can also be used as an awareness-raising tool, i n f o r ~ i n gstaff of your organisation’s strengths and environmental initiatives, and allowing them to respond to any queries their families and friends ~ a have y on your performance. Your staff can be a valuable source of positive publicity~

zy 73

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ACCA use the following criteria as a basis for judging the merits of different reports.

The criteria also give suggestions as to what agood report should contain.

rofile: Does the report frame the environmental profile of the organisation within the context of its corporate profile - product, financial, phical and employment details, etc? ort: What locations and activities does the report cover? All , direct crnd indirect effects? Is it limited to discussing only e n ~ r o n ~ e n taspects? al What about health and safety, social and ethical issues, and sustainability? ental issues: EMS accreditation and objectives; of envi gement into the business process; internal and external audit; environmental goals and targets; compliance/non-compliance

tions: Corporate communications policies and practices; feedback and engagement actions; employees; customers and consumers; ntractors and supplie ; regulatory bodies and NGOs; voluntary initiatives. design issues: Rationale behind choice of EPIs; layout and appearance; clarity; communication and -feedback mechanisms; iety of approaches. act informa~ion:Inputs (by category of resource used); emissions (air/water/land); waste/other non-product output; packaging; transportation; land contamination and remediation. Are the EPIs reported to be of any use to the financial services sector? How are direct/indirect effects treated? ts against previous year(s) objectives or targets. ata: Environmental costs, liabilities, contingent liabilities, provisions and investments;financial penalties, fines etc; impact of government financial instruments; financial ~uantificationof benefits; opportunities and risks; future costs; investment needs. eco-efficienc~:Product stewardship/life cycle design discussion/report; eco-efficiency EPIs; eco-financial EPIs; sustainability indicators; industry focused discussion of sustainability issues and the company’s position; evidenceof move towards integrationof/reporting of social and ethical

: A third party statement (one or more) which gives an independent assurance of the accuracy of the content: mention of standards used, shortcomings found, etc; credibility (see laterin this section).

274

Despite the growing case for companies to report on their environme~talperformance, many companies in the UK and worldwide still do not release any information on their environmental performance. Many firms do not see reporting as relevant to them and do not realise the benefits of addressing environmental issues positively. However, with en~ronmentalawareness on the increase, and as more businesses attempt to reach certification to an environmental standard such as IS0 14001 or EMAS, they are seeing the relevance of monitoring and reporting their performance. Having high-level support, ie board-level support for environmental policies and initiatives, is essential to ensuring environ~entalimprovements and policies are taken seriously. Getting board-level support for reporting will ensure that the resources and attitudes required for generating the information needed in the report will be forthcoming. Without support, your reporting efforts may fall at the first hurdle. There are so many different formats and indicators to use, so many initiatives to follow, that Companies may feel confused as to which to adopt. The important thing to remember is to ensure accuracy and consistency by progressing gradually towards a complete report in planned stages. Even where management accept the value of practices like environmental reporting, they may be unwilling to commit extra time and resources to an additional task. However, the benefit of approaching reporting early on is that a company can progress gradually towards producing a full report. The first steps can be very small, but as long as these are built on over time and targets are made, with a process in place the report can gradually be expanded across regions and business activities.

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I / Benchmark your results and see how you’re doing! This will also highlight where your

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I / Ensure tracking and normalising are in-buift elements of your reporting programme

275

276

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Resources have been listed for each chapter heading and under the following additional areas:

There is now a mass of information available on environmental issues, Any quick library or Internet search will reveal a list of promising but often u n ~ s a b l e materials. This chapterhasbeen compiled as a selective guide to those websites, telephone helplines, books and otherinformationresourcesand contacts that do contain useful and relevant i n f o r ~ a t i o nfor greening the office.

0 0 9

Major supportorg~nisations. Environ~entallegislation. Sustainable development and en~ronmentalissues for ~usiness.

Each section contains key contacts and a list of other useful resources in that area.

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This is not an exhaustivelistof support organisations and every care has been taken to ensure that the information is correct at the time of printing. Details may change and Wastebusters Ltd. cannot be held liable for any errors, omissions, or variations in the detailssupplied or the serviceprovided. Inclusion does not imply ~ecommendation. a

The Department of Trade and Industry has the overallaim of increasingindustrial competitiveness and scientific excellence,to promote a healthy economy.

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D e p a r t ~ eo~ f tFade and I n ~ u s t ~

Environment Directorate 15 1 ~uckinghamPalace Road London SWl W9SS T: 020 7215 1018 W. ~ . d t ~ . g o v . u k

The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions is an ~mportant E n ~ r o ~ m ~en^ nt ( source ofinformation on UK policy and ~ n v i r o ~ r n ~ ~ t ~ o en^ t~ction research on a large range of environ~enta~ ( ~ E ~ ~ ) issues. View their website or contact them at: The EA and SEPA were created by the 1995 DETR Free ~ite~ature Environment Act and are working together F 0 Box 236 to protect the environment. They are Wetherby LS23 7NB charged with safeguarding and improving 7": 0870 1226236 air and water quality and with ensuring that W ~.environment.detr.gov.uk waste management activities do not cause pollution or harmto human health.

UK Geneml en qui^ Line T: 0645 333 1 l 1

and Local Offices

Emergency Hotline T: 0800 80 70 60

zyxwv zyxw zyxwv forup to two hours free of charge. The ETBPP also produce Green O~iciency,an extremelyusefulguide togreeningthe office. To obtain copies,call the Helpline and quote GG256.

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E ~ v i r o n ~ eAgency nt (EA) Head Office Waterside Drive Aztec West ~mondsbury Bristol BS32 4UD ‘E 01454 624 400

W: environment-agency.g0V.uk

Environi~entand Energy ~elpline ETSU

Harwell Oxon OX1 1 O R A T: 0800 585 794 E: etbppenvhel~~aeat.co.uk W: ~ . e t b p p . g o v . u ~ i n d e x . h t m l

Scottish Environ~entProtection Agency (SEPA)

Head Office Erskine Court Castle Business Park Stirling FK9 4TR T: 01 786 457 700 E: infoQsepa.0rg.uk

The EEBPP is the government’s principal energy efficiency information, advice .and research programme for organisations in the public and private sectors. Funded by DETR and managed by ETSU and BRESCU, it is designed to help organisations cut their energybills by 10-20 per cent. EEBPP services include advice, support, publications and events. For further information contact the Environment and Energy Helpline:

The ETBPP is promoting and supporting the establishment of regional waste minimisation clubs or ‘Green Business Clubs’ throughout the UK. These can be an invaluable source of support and information and offer a chance for smaller companies to get together to discuss environmental improvement and share ideas. There areanumber of benefitsto joiningaGreenBusiness Club suchas sharinginformationon tried andtested environmentalimprovementtechniques, information on wider environmental issues and legislation, and contact with initiatives, suppliers and contractors in your area.

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T: 0800 585 794 E: etsuenq~aeat.co.uk(industrial issues) or

brecsenq~bre.co.uk(buildings issues) W: ~ . e n e r g y - e f ~ c i e n c y . g o v . u k

nvir tal st ract (ET gra The ETBPP is a ~overnmentinitiative funded by DETR and DTI, and managed by ETSU, that aims to promote better environmental performance while increasing the competitiveness of UK industry and commerce. The Environment and Energy Helpline gives free up-to-date information on a wide range of environmental issues, legislation and technology. If your query cannot be answered on thespot,aspecialist will contact you and can work on your enquiry

278

Local authorities have a key role in determining the way we deal with waste. As well as their statutory responsibilities for waste collection, disposal and planning, theWaste ~inimisationAct 1998 allows local authorities to promote waste minimisation to the public and work in partnership with businesses to reduce their waste

ENDS provides expert knowledge on environmental policy and business issues. ~onsultancy The ENDS Environ~ei~tal Directory lists UK consultancies, their areas of expertise, competencies and full contact details. Available from:

ENDS

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Finsbury Business Centre 40 Bowling Green Lane London ECI R ONE T: 020 7814 5300 E: [email protected] W~.ends’co.u~

he biggest e n v i ~ o n ~ e n tal campaign ever to be aimed at the British public. Its Green Code aims to do for environmental behaviour and attitudes what other public awareness c a ~ p a ~ g nhave s done, for instance, for drink-drive, antismoking and seatbelt issues. Its five-point Green Code is: Cutting Down Waste, Saving Energy and Natural Resources, Travelling ? Sensibly, Preventing Pollution and Looking The Are You Doing Your Bit? campaign is a After the Local ~ n v i r o n ~ e nGoing t. for DETR initiative that aims to c o ~ ~ u n i c a t e Green was launched with government help key ’quality of life’ messages. It encourages and all-party support, with its slogan, ‘Do people to take simple everyday action to your bit’, being the focus of the campaign. help protect their local and global environThe basic message is that one person alone ment. The campaign focuses on four key cannot make much difference to the areas: travel, energy, water and waste and is environment, but if everyone carries out funded for the next three years. many small actions together, it can make a difference. ~.~f~.iclnet.co.~

zyxwvut zyxw zyx zy zyxwvu zy ENDS ENDS is a good source for information and

Provide full access to UK and EC legislation, updated every 13 weeks. Ideal for use a s part of IS0 1400 1 and EIVIAS. Demonstration CD available from: lnternutio~~ul ~ u r ~ e tEnterprises in~ Ltd North East of England Business and Innovation Centre Sunder~andEnterprise Park (East) Wearfield, Sunderland SR5 2TA 71. 0191 516 6125’6 E: steven.Armstrong~imeuk.co.uk W~.imeu~.co.uk

queries on environmenta~ Cons~ltuntsand Expert Help

The ~~C~ 1999 ~ollution

Detailed and user-friendly guide to UK and European Pollution Control Legislation. Available from: Nutionu~Societyfor Clean Air and Environ~en tul Protection 136 North Street Brighton BN 1 1RG T: 01273 326313

~ n v i r o n ~ e n t~f felf f l tfhf n~ ~ f f ~ f f ~ ~ b o o ~ Step-by-step procedural guidance on legislation available in print and on CD-ROM from: GEE P ~ ~ l i s ~Ltd ing 100 Avenue Road The ~nvironment Agency’s website for Swiss Cottage regulatory guidance for industry. London NW3 3PG T 020 7393 7400 o ~ e n ~ / i n d e ~ - ~ n , ~W tm ~.gee.co.uk European Union environment (DG XI) legislation in force and in the pipeline, and details on how European legislation is implemented. edie .net CD-ROM with specialised environmental information.

279

~

~

zyxwvu zyxw zyxwvut zyx zyx Policy guidance,casestudies,toolsand techniques to show how the principles of sustainable development can be put into practice at a local level.

Confed~ration of Centre Point 103 New Oxford Street London WC1A 1DU T 020 7379 7400

International ~ h a m ~of e rCommerce UK 14- 15 Belgrave Square London SWlX 8PS T 020 7823 281 1

Local ~ o ~ e r n m e ~ t Woyden House 76-86 ~ r n m i l Street l London EClM 5 Q U T 020 7296 6600

~ . n e f . o r ~ ~ a n a Board ~ e m e n tWebsite of the New Economics Foundation, aresearchandconsultancyorganisation concerned with sustainable development, especially social environmental and accounting.

2 12 High Holborn London WC1V 7~ T 020 7836 2626 E:

environment.council~ukon1ine.co.uk

ental Industries Commission 45 Weymouth Street London WIN 3LD T 020 7935 1675 F 020 7486 3455 The Centre for ~ m o r r o ~Com~any 's 19 Buckingham Street London WC2N 6EF T 020 7930 5150 W ~.tomorrowscompany.com

~ . i ~ . c o . ~ ~ I n f o r ~ a t i o nfor Industry'swebsitewith concisecoverage of policy, regulation, waste, air, water and business, legislation and suppliers of environmental goods and services. ~.e~~irosearch.co The Stationery Office's environmental website sorts out the good from the bad environmental websites and is a one-stop shop for a range of environ~entalissues. If you cannot find information on what you want in the resources here, try it out!

280

~efault.htm The International Institute for Sustainable Development's good but not recentlyupdated publications cataloguefor corporate e n ~ r o n ~ e n tand a l sustainability texts.

~ers~ec.htrn1 Part of Greenware(see Environmental Management below) site giving access to a handful of interesting articles and discussions on sustainable business issues.

Widely praised book by Paul Hawken and Arnory and HunterLovins on new models for sustainablebusiness,published in1999. Available from Earthscan: ~ u r t ~ s c a~u~licutions n Ltd 120 Penton~lleRoad London N l 9JN T 020 7278 0433 E: earthinfo~earthscan.co.uk W ~.earthscan.co.uk

55 Lant Street London SE l 1QP T 020 7407 5296 Range: Within M25

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BPI3 R e ~ c l i UK n~

Folds Road Bolton BL1 2SW T 01204 364 141 Range: SE England

Airport Business Centre 427 Great West Road Hounslow Middlesex TW5 OBY T 020 8571 0100 Range: Within M25

James Arthur House 90 Carnford Way Sundon Park Luton Beds LU3 3AN T 0345 078319

4D North Crescent Cody Road London E 16 4TG T 020 751 1 8000 E: recycle~london-recycling.co.~k Range: Within M 2 5

National Centre for Organic Gardening Ryton-on-Dunsmore Coventry CV3 4ER T 024 7630 8222

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Room 428 London Fruit and Wool Exchange Brushfield Street London E l 6EL T 020 7247 0470 E: info~pa~er-round.co.uk Range: Within M 2 5 Pearce House Acrewood ~ a y St Albans Herts AL4 OJY T 01727 861522 Range: SE England ver The Pines Heol-y-Forlan Whitchurch Cardiff CFI 4 1AX T 029 20544215 Range: National

Crisis ~ a r e s ~ a r e 296/302 Borough High Street London SEl 1JG T 020 7403 8588

Operates in London, ~ i r ~ i n g h a m , Southampton, South Yorkshire, Huddersfield and ~ a n c h e s t e r .

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543 New Hythe Lane Aylesford Kent ME20 7PE ?-. 01622 883000 Range: National

19th Floor Leon House 233 High Street Croydon CRO 9XT T 020 8277 5540 E: recyc1ing~mac~aren.emap.co.uk

Suite 2 Bridge House Bridge Street High Wycombe Bucks HPl 1 2EL T 01494 510167

5 Gatsby Court

176 Holliday Street B i r ~ i n g h a mB 1 1TJ T 0121 633 4656 E: alucan~dial.pipex.com Local Gash for can^

T 0845 7 227722

69 Monmouth Street London WC2H 9DG T 020 7379 1306

281

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1 Bower Terrace Tonbridge Road Maidstone Kent ME16 8RY T 01622 673 678 W ~.charitylogistics.com

~ ~ to i ~ e Published by the DTI (see Key Support Organisations above). ~~~~~

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6 Bath Place ~ v i n ~ t Street on London EC2A 3JE T 020 7729 4766 W~ . i c e ~ . o r g . u ~ Eurocourt Oliver Close West Thurrock Essex RM20 3EE T 01 708 683400

Unit B, Manawey industria^ Estate 16 Holder Road Aldershot Hampshire GU12 4RH T 0125.2 338 414 E: pbroadbent~midex-europe.com

26 Grosvenor Gardens London SWlW OGT T 020 7838 4800 Recycling Freepost LOL23 1 1 Dunstable Bedfordshire LU5 4YY T 01582 478 182

U

Irongay Business Park Lochside Industrial Estate

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Greenways Business Centre, Unit 18 10 Pencroft Way Manchester M 1 5 6JJ T 0161 233 1977

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c/o International Cadmium Association 42 Weymouth Street London W l N 3LQ T 020 7499 8425

E: gary~rfrazi~r.co.uk W ~.rfra~ier.co.uk

W

Kerry Avenue Purfleet Industrial Park South Ockendon Essex RM15 4YE T 01 708 684000

See Waste Management Companies below.

www.rebat.com/collectionwebpage,htm

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Richmond Works Garforth Leeds LS25 INB T 01 13 286 2323

282

Unit G, Canalside North John Gilbert Way Trafford Park Manchester M 17 1DP T 0161 877 0977 E: info~mercuryrecyc1ing.co.uk W ~.mercuryrecycling.co.uk

ork c/o SOFA Pilot I-Iouse 41 King Street Leicester LEI 6RN T 01 16 233 7007 E: frn~btinternet.com W: ~.btinternet.com/-frn/FRN

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zyxwvu r~n~o ( n s ~ ~ i Lc ~ ~ ) Lakeside Road Colnbrook Berks SL3 OEG T 01753 686777

zyxwvu Dunedin House Auckiand Park Mount Farm Bletchley Milton Keynes MKI IBU T 01908 650650

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Unit 3 Sumner Workshops 80 Sumner Road London SE 15 LA T 020 7703 52221 7701 3324 (South London area only)

Head Office Gate House Castle Estate 'Ibrnpike Road High Wycombe Bucks HP12 3NR T 01 494 449944

PO Box 54 Welwyn Garden City Hertfordshire AL8 7DA T 01 707 332525 Can Banks and Crushers

viso PO Box 116 Chichester West Sussex PO 19 1XU T 01243 534619

31 Eastgate

Leeds LS2 7LY T 01 13 2452244 W ~.straight.co.uk

Head Office Coronation Road High Wycombe Bucks HP12 3TZ T 01494 521221 W ~.biffa.co.uk

10-12 Picton Street Bristol BS6 5QA T 0117 942 0142

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26 Spring Street London W2 IJA T 020 7402 71 10 W ~.efw.org.uk

~ l ~ a n a ~ a ~ Bedfont Road Feltham Middlesex W 1 4 8EP T 020 8890 2440 25 Wellington Street London WC2E 7DA "E 020 733 1 2 130

(Regulator of Environmental Bodies under the Landfill Tax Regulations) Pofex House 25-27 School Lane Bushey Herts WD2 1BR T 020 89502152

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nyx ~ ~ r o Lr ai Onyx House 401 Mile End Road London E3 4PB "E 020 8983 1000

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ckingham Palace Road London SWl W 9TR T 020 7824 8882

283

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PO Box 2 100 Wigan WN3 4FF T 0800 783 7838 E: gfg~dircon.~o.uk W w~.gf~.iclnet.co.u~

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9 Saxon Court St Peters Gardens Northampton N N 1 1SX E 01604 620426

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19 High Street Daventry ~ o r t ~ a nNtNs 1 1 4BG T 01327 703223 E: i~ppa~fsbdial.co.uk

74 Kirkgate Leeds LS2 7DJ T 0113 246 7584 74 Kirkgate Leeds LS2 7DJ T 01 13 243 8777 E: ~ail~savewaste.freeserve.co.uk W w.wasteweb.co~/swa~

London EC 1V 3QG E 020 7253 6266 Waste Watch Wasteline: 0870 243 0 136 W w.wastewatch.0rg.uk Panda House Godalming Surrey GU 7 l XR T 01483 426 444 W~ . ~ f - u k . o r ~ ~eriodicalavailable from: 19a Craw~eyMill Witney Oxfordshire OX8 5TJ

284

Europa House 13- l 7 Iron~ongerRow London EC 1V 3QG T 020 7253 6266 W~.nrf.or~.u~buyrecycled/database/i~dex

CIPS Bookshop Easton House Stamford Lincolnshire PE9 3NZ T 01780 756777 E: bookinfo~~ips.org W w.cips.org

Greencare House Sharpness Gloucester GL13 9UD E 01453 51 1366

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Sovereign House Dorma Trading Park Staffa Road London El0 7QX 7". 020 8592 9998

Units 1 & 2 Wilnecote Lane Tamworth Staffordshire B77 2LE 7". 01827 261 599

New Rock Industrial Estate Chilcompton Somerset BA3 4JE T: 01 761 232997 Clareville House 26-27 Oxendon Street London SWlY 4EL T 020 7389 0136 W ~w.forestsforever.org.uk

Unit D Station Building Llanidloes Powys SY 18 6EB T 01684 412 176 W. ~ . f s c - u kdemon. . co .uk

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~ccasional e (~anufacturin~) Ltd (FSC ap Mitchell Building Woodside Way Eastfield Industrial Estate Glenrothes Fife KY7 4ND T 01592 774 485

Amazon Works Three Gates Road West Cowes Isle of Wight PO31 7UT T 01983 299 935

aper Swift Valley Rugby CV21 IQN 'E 01 788 540 303

~ationalA ~erchants Hamilton Court Gogmore Lane Chertsey Surrey KT16 9AP T 01932 569 797

Paperback Unit 2 Bow Piangle Business Centre Eleanor Street London E3 4NP T 020 8980 2233

Sven Christiansen 21 First Avenue The Pensnett Estate ~ngswinford West p id lands DY6 7PP T 01384 400120 F 95+ Group Branksome House Filmer Grove Godalming Surrey GU7 3AB T 01483 419 278

Inveresk Plc Head Office Kilbagie Mills Alloa Clackmannanshire T 01259 455 000 W ~.inveresk.co.uk

Robert Home Head Office ~ u n t s m a nHouse Mansion Close ~ o u ~ t Park on Northampton N N 3 1LA TO1604 495 333 The Paper Feder~tionof rea at ~apermakersHouse Rivenhall Road Ltd ( ~ u r a ~ o o d ) Swindon SN5 7BD T: 0 1793 889 600 E: fedn~paper.org.uk

zyxwvutsrq ~ u d l e yS t a t i o n e ~Limite~ Crown Close Wick Lane London E3 2)T T 020 8980 7199

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Curtis Fine Papers Ltd Guard~ridge St findrews Fife KY16 O U U T 01344 839 551 E: exc~ange~~urtisfinepapers.com w: ~ . c u r t i s ~ n e p a p e r s . c o ~

~aperbac~ See Paper above.

greensta tat .co.uW Green stationery suppliers.

.

envirospace corn General information on green purchasing and environmental issues from The Stationery Office. 285

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Guidance on the techniques of sustainable product development and information on eco-efficient products.

cat.0rg.u~ Specialists in renewable technologies for domestic and commercial use.

ETSU 168 Harwell Oxfordshire OX1 1 O W T 01235 432968 W wwwxaddet-re.org

Centre for ~ternative (UT)

~achynlleth

OneWorld’s website which has auseful section for ethical shopping.

Powys

Wales SY20 9AZ T 01 654 703409 ical-junction.or~index.s~tm1 E: orders~catmai1order.demon.co.uk An ‘ethical junction’ for a range of products W ~.cat.org.uk and services. Construction in dust^ and n~nt/~urchas/ Information soc cia ti on 6 Storey’s Gate A useful example of purchasing policy and Westminster assessment criteria from Leeds University. London SW1P 3AU T 020 7222 8891 E: enquiries~ciria.org.uk Barclays supply chain initiative. W www.Ciria.0rg.uk ency Emer~ency Hotline T 0800 80 70 60

67 High Street Saffron Walden Essex CB10 1AA T 01 799 508608 rotection Systems

48a Eden Street Kingston Upon Thames KT1 1EE T 020 8549 5855 search E s t a ~ l i s h ~ e n t

Garston Watford WD2 7JR T 01923 894040

Environment A~encyPollution re vent ion G~idelines(PPGOl to PP622)

Available from EA website and local offices (see Key Support Organisations above). T 0645 333 l l 1 W. www.en~ronment-agency.g0V.uk

Energy Saving Wust 21 Dartmout~Street London SWlH 9BP T 020 7222 0101 Hotline: 0345 277 200 W w.est,org.uk

See Energy Saving Ttust. Services Research and ion s so cia ti on (BSRIA) Old Bracknell Lane West Bracknell Berkshire RG12 7AH T 01344 42651 1

286

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Halon Users N~tional (HUNC)

46 Bridge St

Godalming Surrey GU7 1HL T 01483 414125 E: ha1on~hunc.org

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for nol 1 c/o Energy and Environment Research Unit Faculty of Technology The Open University Walton Hall, Milton Keynes Bucks MK7 6AA T: 01908 858 407 W W-tec.open.ac.u~eeru

~ate~ r e~ices ational cons^^ ( ~ ~ C C )

and il

Centre City Tower 7 Hill Street Birmingham B5 4UA T 0121 625 1300 E: en~uiries@o~at.gtnet.gov.uk W. www.open.~ o v . u ~ o ~ a t /

DETR Free Literature PO Box 236 Wetherby LS23 7NB T 0870 1226236

www.loca1-transport. detr.gov.uk/gtp/ index.htm or www.detr.gov.uklitwp/index. htm W

Events and information. W.dcb.0rg.uk

W

Electrical Vehicles ~ s o c i ~ t i o 17 Westmeston Avenue Rottingdean East Sussex BN2 8AL T: 01933 276618 E: eva@gwassoc. dircon .co.uk

r e ~ i s e and s Facilitie§ Maria IML Group

Blair House High Street To~bridge Kent TN9 1BQ T 0 1732 359990

fri~erationUsers ~ r o (~ ~p ~ G ) 46 Bridge St Godalm~ng Surrey GU7 1HL T: 01483 414125 E: [email protected]

Up-to-the-minute information on air quality in your area. T 0800 556677 Ceefax pages 4 10-1 7 or Teletext page 106 W www.environment .detr.gov.uklairql aqinfo.htm

See Key Support Organisations.

ansport Associatio~ (ETA) 10 Church Street ~ e y b r i ~ KT13 g e 8RS T 01932 828 882 E: [email protected] VV: www.etc.co.uk Fleet Driver ~ a i n i A§sociati~n n~ The Stables Walton Lodge Chesterfield Derbyshire S42 7LG T: 01246 568 953 for Life c a r n ~ a i ~ ~

Lots of tips about walking and cycling instead of driving on short journeys. W W . a c t i v e . org .u k

soc cia ti on of Car Fleet ~perators

The Mint House Hylton Road Petersfield GU32 3JY T: 01730 260 162

(LPGA)

Pavilion 16 Headlands Business Park Salisbury Road Ringwood Hampshire BH24 3PB T 01425 461612 E: [email protected] W ~.lpga.co.uk 287

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(NGVA) 1 1 Berkeley Street

Mayfair London W1X 6BU T 020 7355 5086

or^ on ~ ~ ~ s ~ Gives advice tobusinesson developing better, more integrated transport systems. Available from: ACBE Secretariat Zone 6/E9 Ashdown House 123 Victoria Street London SWlE 6DE T 020 7890 6568

o

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~ationalSociety for Clean f i r an ental Protgction (NSCA) 136 North Street Brighton BN 1 1RG T 01273 326 313 W ~.greenc~annel.com/nsca

c/o Energy Savings ITfrust 21 Dartmouth Street London SWlH 9BP T 020 7222 0101 Hotline: 0345 277 200 W ~.est.org.uk

Sustran~ 35 King Street Bristol BSI 4DZ T 01 17 929 0888 E: info~sustrans.org.u~ so cia ti on (TCA) T 0800 616008 W ~.tca.org.uk

Walkden House 10 Melton Street London NW1 2EJ T 020 7388 8386

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A guide to help professionals ask the right

questions when purchasing to minimise the impact of transport on the environm~nt. Available from CIPS (see Purchasing).

Consg~grsat Work En~ronmentCouncil 21 Elizabeth Street London SW 1W 9RP T 020 7824 841 1 Eco Schools Tidy Britain Group Elizabeth House The Pier Wigan WN3 4EX T 01942 824620 E: enquiries~tidybritain.org.uk W ~.tidybritain.org.uk Friends of the Earth (FOE) 26-28 Underwood Street London N1 7JQ T 020 7490 1555 W ~.foe.org.uk

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~avgl~sg Organises National Car Free Day. T 01992 5561 17

1 The Eastgate Office Centre Eastgate Road Bristol BS5 6XX T 01 17 951 5151 Publish ‘New Car Fuel Consumptionand Emission Figures’, also available from: W ~.roads.detr.gov.u~ehicle/fuelcon/ index.htm

enry ~ o u ~ l ~ d Res ay ~soci~tion Ryton Organic Gardens Coventry CV8 3LG T 024 7630 351 7 Wildlife ~ a t c h The Green Witham Park Waterside South Lincoln LN5 7JR T 01522 544 400

zyx zyxwvutsrq ~ n t e ~ ~e xe ~ ~ n o ~Ltd o~ies 62 King Street Maidenhead Berks SL6 1EQ

Autumn Park Dysart Road Grantham Linco~nshireNG3 1 6LL T 01476 74297

T 01628 770037

Software for moving your current EMS into an electronic system to control d o c u ~ e n t a tion. Does not assess whether system is in compliance with IS0 14001. Available from:

See Office Waste above.

G ~ a n ~I ~n ~ onr e~ ~ t~i oy ns t e Lid ~s Chester House 76-86 Chertsey Road Woking Surrey GU21 5BJ

See Purchasing.

zyxwvuts zyxwvuts T 01483 729661

8 Stratton Street London W1X 5FD T 020 7629 1600

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389 Chiswick High Road London W4 4AL T 020 8996 7665

Greenware Software, based in Canada, provides software tools in conjunction with 14000 & ONE Solutions Ltd (see Environmental Reporting below) for reporting greenhouse gas emissions. W ~. 1400 1 .com/software/index.html

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14-1 5 Belgrave Square London SW1X 8PS T 020 7823 281 1

18-29 Ridgeway London SW 19 4QN T 020 8944 2930

Welton House Li~ekilnWay Lincoln LN2 4US

Report by Ruth Hillary, 1999. Available free of charge from:

T 01522 540049

W. ~ . i e m a . n eand t ~.emas.org.uk

Audley House 13 Palace Street London SW1E 5 H S T 020 7233 71 11

~ e ~ o~ ~ n k ~~en tal oi ~ ~ra n~ aen~t e ~~ and ~ u ~ i t i n ~ 174 Trellick Tower Golborne Road London W10 5UU

zyxwvut T 020 8968 6950 E: rhil1ary~nema.demon.co.u~

I EleCtr~nic x Software for implementing and managing IS0 14001. Available from:

289

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re en leaf ~ubli~hing Aizlewood Business Centre Aizlewood’s Mill, Sheffield S3 8GG T 01 14 282 3475 E: greenleaf~wor1dscope.co.uk W ~.~reenleaf-publishing,com

Key Support Organisations above). Available from: ~astebu~ters Ltd 3rd Floor, Brighton Huse 9 Brighton Terrace London S ~ 8DJ 9 T 020 7207 3434 E: 1es~ey~wasterbusters.co.uk

This free Dutch-based website is devoted to corporate environmenta~ inform~tion. The site allows visitors toeasily access information on reporting, as well as a number of environmental reports such as:

The Copenha~en Chart~r: A munu~em~nt guide to stukehol~er dialo~ue und r~porting. It details what stakeholder dialogue is, what can be gained from it, and ways of approaching it in your organisation. The Corporate ~ n v i r o n ~ e n t uReport l Score Card: A ~ e n ~ h ~ a r k Tool i n g for Continuul ~ ~ p r o v e m e nItt . benchmarks your environmental report against several criteria based on international research and experience and highlights areas in which your report is weak. Corporate ~ ~ v i r o n ~ e nReports: t a l U guide for e n v i r o n ~ e n t ~ l ~ a l ~ aLeads g e r s them . through the process and offers advice on how to get the best results from internal resources and external suppliers.

tomorr~w-~e~.~om This website has links to corporate environmentalreports from some of themost proactive companies fromall sectors of industry.

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4th Floor Cityside 40 Adler Street LondonEl 1EE T 020 7247 2323 An o v e ~ i e wof the findings of the 1999 survey is available at: W. ~ . p i r c . c o . u ~ p u b s / e n v 9 9 . h t m The ~~RCAnnual Survey gives a complete report on the environmental reporting efforts of the FTSE 350.

20 Lincoln’s Inn Fields London ~ C 2 3EE A T 020 7396 5973 AGCA runs the UK environmental reporting

ree en ware §oftware an § Q l ~ t i QLtd ~S Theseorganisations havedeveloped in partnership software tools for autornatically producing environmental reports, including specifically developed greenhouse gas software. 14000 & ONE Solutions Ltd 15a Chorley Old Road Bolton BL1 3AD T 070000 14000 E: info@ 14001.corn W ~. 1400 1.corn

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scheme and supplies judging lists, guidance and a summaryof the annual awards results on request. ACCA also produces the Guide to environment and energy reporting and accounting which includesspecific company examples. 290

Detailed discussion of electronic environmental reporting.

~ ~§ ~ s t ~a i n ~ ~~ ~ e y i Provide an excellentoverview of ethical investinginthe UK andabroad intheir website. Look under What’s New and Making Change Happen. W ~.applysd.co.u~

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rain - rain with lower pH, caused by the presence of atmospheric pollutant^ such as oxides of nitrogen and sulphur. Acid rain has resulted in large areas of Scandinavian forestry and lakes being damaged and, closer to home, has also caused significant damage to limestone buildings. A~enda2 1 - arising from the Rio Earth Summit of 1992, Agenda 2 1 is an agenda for the 2 1st century, which aims to bring about environmental change through action ata local level. Agenda 21 is now enshrined in local authorities throughout the UK and many other countries which attended the Summit.

- a method usedby organisations to staycompetitive - to regularly compare their own services and businesspractices against others’,and then use lessons from the best organisations to make improvements.

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lue - this replaces CCT (compulsory competitive tendering~ and requires local authorities to seekservices on grounds not only of lowest cost but also of providing the best value service. Implies a move from low cost service provision to quality provision. ~ o n t r o ~ waste ~ e d - a term to define any wastes arising from industrial, commercial or domestic activities in the UK.

uty of Care - as part of the Environmental Protection Act of X 990, the Duty of Care regulations govern the way in which waste is transported and disposed of within the UK in order to ensure effective tracking of waste and avoid fly-tipping incidents and unnecessary damage to the environment.

Audit ~ c ~ ~ (E r n e ) - EMAS was introduced in 1995 and is a available to all ind sectors. The requirements for certification are more stringent than IS014001, especially in requiring a publicly available environmenta~ statement from companies which must be actively promoted. EMAS is a European scheme, mainly adopted in Germany and other European nations.

for~ance in~icat r (EPI) - any of a range of measures such as waste CO, emissions per cubic metre, which can be monitored over time to assess whether the environmental impact of an or~anisation is increasing or being reduced. - the increase in biological activity in aquatic ecosystems which disrupts d nutrient flows. This occurs through influxes of nutrients (such as fertiliser leaching into rivers) or through energy influxes (such as hotwater from the outlet pipes of a power station or factory).

I) - an international initiative to develop a standardised framework and guidelines for corporate sustainability reporting.

lans - these have recently been drawn up by companies and local r businesstravel on local and global authorities in recognition of the impacts of c o ~ m u t e and climates and communities. Plans may set targets to increase the use of public transport, encourage the provision and use of bicycles or walking, and promote car sharing and other less environmentally damaging forms of transport.

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ct - the gradual increasein global climatic temperature through increases in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, which trap the sun's rays. The amounts of these gases presentin the atmosphere are increasing as a result of the use of fossil fuels, deforestation and agricultural practices. - water which arises from industrial processes and requires treatment before being released into ecosystemsor fit for human use.

- the International Stand~rds Organisation environmental management system series which requires companies to systematically monitor and manage their environmental

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- during the anaerobic breakdown of biodegradable substances dumped in ases such as methane arise which contribute toglobal w~rmingand may lead to an explosion hazard. - a tool to assess the environmental impacts of a product or fits design, manufacture, use and disposal.

I - this concerns the useof ozone-damaging chemicals andwas respon-wide phasing out of CFCs, previously widely used in refrigerant and

) - this requires countries to reduce their de~endence on fossil fuels for energy generation and promotes the increased use of renewable energy forms such as wind and solar power.

- this defines wastein the UK which is ~azardousand liable to causesignifo the environment and human health. A long list of materials, including asbestos, are now classed as special waste, and require specialised disposal techniques and the issuing of Special Waste ~onsignmentNotes for their collection and transport under the Duty of Care re~ulations.

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rs - people affected by or interested in the activitiesof an organisation, such as c o ~ ~ u n i groups, ty share~oldersand employees.

- a method which calculates a productor service's cost over its entire

l cost of a washing machine is not its retailprice but its energy, water

and detergent use, maintenance and disposal costs also.

L) - an extension of the bottom line, this includes the environmence of a company. TBL reports include information on these three

'pillars' of sustainability.

S ) - These are responsible for the formation of lowlevel ozone, a local po~lutant,and also contribute to the global greenhouse effect.

- these work on theprinciple that one organisation's waste is often a valuable resource for another organisation, eg a retailer would normally pay to dispose of the cardboard boxes which are left after unpacking new stock deliveries. Having these collected by local charity organisations that will use them to transport goods saves on the costs of purchasing new packaging materials, the disposal costs that having these taken to landfill would have incurred, and most importantly, saves natural resources.

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Audit Commission(1998) Local A u t h o r i ~ ~ e ~ o r ~ Indicators ance 1998. ~ o n s u ~ t a t i o n document Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions ( 1998)~ o d e r Local n Govern~ent: In Touch with the People, 30 July, The Stationery Office, London Depart~entof the Environment,Transport and the Regions (1999) A Better Qualityof Lije: A Strategyfor sustainable Develop~ent for the UK, The Stationery Office, London Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (2000) Waste StrategyZOO0 for Englffndand Wales,The Stationery Office, London

Department of the Environ~ent(NI) ( l998) Shaping Our Future. ~owardsa st rate^ for the Develop~entof the Region. Draft Regional Strategic Framework, HMSO Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1996) Waste ~ a ~ a g e ~ eThe nt: Duty of Care - A Code ofPractice, The Stationery Office, London D ~ p a r t ~ e of n t the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1999) A Better Q u a l i ~of Lije: A Strategyfor Sustainable Develop~ent~or the UK, The Stationery Office, London Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1999a) A Way ~ i t Waste: h A draft waste s t r ~ tfor e ~E ~ ~ l a nand d Wales, HMSO, London Department of the ~nvironment,Transport and the Regions (1 999b) Li~iting Land~ll: A consultation paper on limiting l a ~ d ~tol lmeet the EC Land~ll ~irectiv~’s targetsfor the land~llof biodegradable~unicipalwaste, DETR, London Department of the ~nvironment,Transport and the Regions (2000) Waste Strategy2OOOfor ~nglandand Wales: Part l ; and Waste Strategy ZOO0 for England and Wales:Part 2, The Stationery Office, London National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection (1999) NSCA Pollution andb boo^, Brighton Scottish Executive (1999)Down to Earth: A Scottish ~erspectiveon Sustaina~le Develop~ent, The Scottish Office

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Groundwork (1996) Purchasing and Sustaina~ili~, The Groundwork Foundation, Birmingham

The British Fire Protection Systems Association (1995) Code of Practicefor Gaseous Fire Fighting Systems, BFPSA, Kingston Upon Thames Department of Environment ( l 996) Circular 6/96-EnvironmentfflProtection Act 1990: Part II, HMSO, London Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (1 999) A Way with Waste: A draft waste strategyfor England and Wales, HMSO, London Department of Trade and Industry (199Sa) Refrigeration and Air Conditioning:CFC Phase Out: Advice on Alternatives and Guidelinesfor Users, DTI, London Department of Trade and Industry (1995b) Fire Fighling: Halon Phase Out: Advice on ~lternativesand Guidelinesfor Users,DT1, London Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme (199Sa) Good Practice Guide 84: an aging und ~otivatingStaff to Save Energy, ETSU, Harwell Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme ( l 995b) Introduction to Energy Eficiency in Ofices, BRECSU, Watford Energy Efficiency Best PracticeP r o g r a m ~ (el 996) Good Practice Guide l 18: ana aging Energy Use: ~inimising run~~ing costs of office e~uipmentand related air conditioning, ETSU, Harwell Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme (1998) Energy Consu~ptionGuide 19: Energy Use in OfJces, ETSU, Harwell Environment Agency (no date) WaterWise: are you pouring money down the drain? Environment Agency, Worthing Intergovernmenta~Panel on Climate Change ( I 995) Second Assessment Report, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge National Centre for Water Demand ~ a n a g e m e n (1998) t On the Right Pack: A s u ~ ~ a ofr y current water conserv~tio~ initiatives in the UK, January 1998, Environment Agency, Worthing National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection (1999) NSCA Pollution H ~ n d ~ o o k , NSCA, Brighton Natwest Group (1997) Get Smart: Energy ~ a n f f g e m e n t W o rNational ~ ~ o o ~~, e s t m i n s t eBank r plc, London

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Committee on Medical Effectsof Air Pollutants ( l 997) Statement on Dieselv Pollution Engined Light Vehicles,June, http://~.doh.gov.u~comeap/diesel.htm 294

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Department ofthe Environment, Transport and the Regions ( I 998) A New Deal for ans sport: Better for Everyone. The Government’s ~ h i t ePaper 017 the Future of ans sport, The Stationery Office, London Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions ( I 999a) ~nvironment-al Reporting: Gui~elines for c o ~ p a n reporting y on greenhouse gasemissions, DETR, London Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1999b) Preparingyo~rorganisation for transport in the~uture:Tile ~ e n e ~oft sGreen ans sport Plans, DETR, London Department of Transport (1993) Road Fafflc Statisticsof Great Britain, HMSO, London De~artmentof %-ansport(1996a) ~ ~ n s p oThe r t ~Way Fo1ward, HMSO, London Department of Transport (1996b) The ~ationalCycling Strategy, DOT London EnergyEfficiency BestPracticeProgramme(1995) The Company,The FleetAndTile E~vironment,ETSU, Harwell EnvironmentalTransportAssociation(1999) GoingGreen ~ a g a ~ i nETA e , Services Ltd, Weybridge London First (1996) Clean Air Charter For Fleet Best Practice,London First, London Royal Commission on Env~ron~ental Pollution (1994) Eight~enthReport: ~ a n s ~ oand r t the Environ~ent,HMSO, London Transport 2000 ( S 995) Company Cars,Pansport 2000, London Vehicle Certification Agency (1 999) New Cur Fuel Consu~ptionand mission Figures, Vehick Certification Agency, Bristol

EMAS Help-Desk (1996) Writing an ~nvironmentulProgramme, LGMB, London

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ACCA (1998) ~ a ~ Values n g Count:Contem~oraryExperience in social and ethical accounting, auditing and ~eporting,ACCA Research Report No. 57, ACCA, London

Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1999) ~ n v i r o n ~ ~ e ~ t a l ~ e ~ o r t i r l g : Guidelinesfor company reportingon greenhouse gasemissions, DETR, London Energy Efficiency Best PracticeProgramm~(1998) Energy C o ~ s ~ ~ pGuide t ~ o ni 9: Energy Use in Offices, ETSU, Harwell P1RC ( S 999) ~ n v i ~ o n m e nReporting ta~ 1999: PIRC survey of FTSE 350

295

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Page numbers in bold refer to figures; those in itfflicstables or boxed material

The ACBE Report on ~ f f n s p o288 ~t acid rain 149 acids, in cleaning products 1 17 Active for Life campaign 287 Agenda 21 7 , 2 2 1 air conditioning 158, 160 air pollution from office 15 incineration 28 legislation 174 transport 175-7 Air Pollution Hotline 287 air quality 137-9 algal blooms 1 18 alkalis, in cleaning products l 17 alternative technology 151-3 case study 152 contacts and resources 286-7 aluminium can recycling 60-2, 281 ~ u m i n i u mCan Recycling Association 28 1 ammonia emissions 149 Applying Sustainable Development 290 Are You Doing Your Bit? 279 Association of Car Fleet Operators 287 Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) 290 Environmental Reporting Awards 255-6 audio conferencing 19 1 Audit Commission 7 award schemes environmental reporting 255-6,274 waste management 27 Barclays plc 39, 90, 286 batteries 66-7, 93, 96 contacts andresources 282 disposal 136 environmental issues 140-1 Batteries and Accumulators Containing Dangerous Substances Regulations (1994) 93

beeswax 96 b e n c h m a r ~ i n6,~264,265, 267-8 case study 269-70 benzene 176-7 Best Value 7, 19, 72, 84 case study 8 A Setter ~ ~ f ofLre f l i 2-3, ~ 18 biodiversity grounds maintenance 127-8, 130-1 timber production 47, 102-3 bleach 117 Blue Angel Award Scheme I 12-1 3 books, waste 42 box files 95 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) 154 British Fire Protection Systems Association 147, 286 British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) 286 British Medical Association I82 British Standards Institution 289 British Telecom 184 British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) 128 BS7750 221, 227

Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) 160 building management contacts and resources 286-7 energy use 132 fabric maintenance 132-3, 140-2 government and industry initiatives 133 Building Research Energy Conservation Support Unit (BRECSU) 101 Building Research Establishment (BRE) 133, 286 Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) 133

Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRlA) 133, 286

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Business Charter for Sustainable Dev~lopment232 Business in the En~ronment(BiE) 289 index of corporate environmental engagement 73, 256,264 business meetings 191 business travel, minimising 190-2 1,3-butadiene 177 Buy Recycled Campaign 75, 284 ~ u y i n gInto Greener ~ ~ n s ~- o1999 r t 288

CADDET Centre for Renewable Energy 286 cadmium 66 Carnbr~dgeshireCounty Council 192 can recycling 60-2, 281 car parking 175, 184-5 car s h a r i n ~185-6 carbon dioxide c a l c ~ l a t i noffice ~ emissions 156 emission benchmarks 265,267-8 for c re fighting 146 reporting emissions 262 vehicle emissions 189-90 carbon monoxide 176-7 cardboard packaging l 0 1 carpets 142 cars accidents 177, 194 dependence on l86 disposal 178 pollution from 149, 176-7 and status 196, 196 taxation I75 traffic congestion 177-8 see also c o m p a ~ ycars case studies B&Q 106-8 BAA Heathrow 187-8 Barclays plc 90 Biothinking Internationa~79-81 British Hospitality Association 52 Broomleig~Housing Association 51 Camden Council 8 , 215-1 7 Castle Homes Limited 65 CBS Supplies 85-6 Cheshire County Council 85-6 Chesswood Middle School 168 ~o-operativeBank 153 Copyprint UK Ltd 125-6 Crofton Halls 40, l 2 l

Dudley UK Limited 244-5 EM1 Group plc 260-1 Environment Agency ~ W D 269-70 ~ C Environmenta~Supply Chain Forum 76-8 HM Customs and Excise 202-3 Hormiman Museurns and Gardens 56 Inveresk plc l 15-1 6 Joanna's Restaurant 59 Kodak Ltd 45-6 Monthind Clean l 19-20 ~ a t ~ o nGrid a l 91 NHS Supplies 129-30 Paperback 94-5 Prospects Career Services 63 Ravens Wood School 204 Reclign 43-4 Reed Business Information 159 Schroders London Group 266 Shell International Limited 207 Shot in the Dark 222-3 Stockley Park Pansport Plan 181 UMIST 76-8 Unilever 2 12 Waste Alert Clubs 8, 41-4, 215-17 Wastebusters Ltd 41-2 Wilkin &L Sons Limited 37-8 Cash for Cans Recycling Centre 281 catalytic converters 149, 176-7 catering services case studies40, 12I disposable products 120, 122 environmental issues 1 17-1 8 purchasing criteria 120, 122 Cedrec Professional 2 79 Central Buying C o ~ s o r t i 84 u~ Centre for Alternative Technology 15l , 286 Centre for Tomorrow's CO~pany280 CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons)105, 3 43 ~ h ~ n ~Pi ~ncgk s178 Charity Logistics 28 1 Chartered Institute of ~urchasing and Supply 284 chipboard 104-5, 108 chlorine-free papers 113 cistern darns 167, I71 Clean City Awards Scheme 27 cleaning contractors case study 119-20 purchasing criteria l 18, 120 and recycling schemes 50,205

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cleaning products 1 17-1 8 climate change 103 climate Change Levy 150 clinical waste 134-5 Co-operative Bank 5, 153 combined heat and power (CHP) 152, 154 combustion modified high resilient (CMHR) foam 105 Committee on Medical Effectsof Air Pollutants ( l 997) 176 com~unication198 between sites 220 case studies 121, 201-2,204,207 contacts andresources 288 environment team 12, 208-9 environmental event 2 13- 18 good practice guidelines 2 18-20 launching a scheme 203, 205-6 motivating the individual 198-200 tools 200- I Community Recycling Network 283 commuting case studies 181, 187-8 green plan 179-80 minimising 180, 182, 186 compact discs, waste 42 company cars 188-9 alternative packages 192 calculating emissions from 189-90 driving technique 193-4 fleet management 172 fuel consumption 194-5, l97 green choice 192-3 maintenance 195-6 minimising travel 190-2 safety 194 status 196 The ~ o ~ p athe ~ Fleet y , and the ~ ~ v ~ ~172 o ~ ~ e n t compost 55 composting 54-5 case study 55 problems 57 Composting Association 28 1 compressed natural gas (CNG) 177, 189 computers components recycling 64, 101 energy consumption 160- l energy saving facilities 100 mainframe machine rooms 139-40

re-use 62-4 recycling contractors 28 1-2 VDUS 138-9 Confederation of British Industry (CBI) 280 Environment Business Forum 232 conferences 180, I 9 1 confidential waste 48-9, 281 Conservers at Work 288 Construction Industry En~ronmental Forum 133 Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) 133, 286 Control of Pesticides Regulations ( I 996) 127 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) 127 Crisis Fareshare 54, 281 customers 4-5 cycling encouraging 182-3, 188 office pool bicyles 192

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Department of Environment Pansport and the Regions (DETR) contact details 277, 287 environmental reporting guidance 256-7 transport white paper 174-5 Department of n a d e and Industry (DTI) 277 diesel minim is in^ consumption 192-3 pollution from 176-7, 189-90 Difficult Waste 68 Don‘t Choke Britain 287 Dorset County Council 55 double sided printing/copyin~38, 100 Dow Jones Sustainability Index (US) 3-4 draught proofing 158 drinks 120, 122 see also vending cups driving skills 193-4 dry powder fire extinguishers 146 dust, photocopiers 138 Duty of Care regulations 3, 20-2

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298

e-commerce 83 ~co-Management and Audit Scheme ( E ~ S6,) 22 1-2, 227, 229-31 competent body 289 environmental reporting 258

for local authorities 230- I , 235 software tools 289 ECO-Schools 208, 288 ecolabelling 78, 93, 1 13 80:20 product plan 80-1 Electrical Vehicles Association287 electrical/electronic equipment contacts and resources282 disposal 10 I energy consumption 10 1, 160- 1 environmental issues 98-9, 137-8 health and safety 139 industry initiatives 99-100 ~anufacturers’policy 100 packaging 101 proposed wastes legislation 25, 99 purchasing criteria 100-2 re-use/recycling 62-4, 100 servicing 10 1-2 see also computer; photocopier;printer EMAS see Eco-Management and Audit Scheme End of Life Vehicles Directive 178 ENDS see Environmental Data Services Energy Efficiency Rest Practice Programme (EEBPP) 149, 156, 278, 287 Energy from Waste Association283 energy recovery 28 Energy Saving Rust 151, 1 77, 286 Energy Star 99-100 energy use assessment 154-7 benchmarks 265, 267,268 buildings 132 case studies 153, 1S9 electrica~/~~ectronic equipment 100, 140, 160-1 environmental issues 148-9 en~ronmentalreporting 262 government and industry initiatives I50 green tariffs 154-5 reducing 157-65 taxation 149-50 see ~ l s oalternative technology Engaging Stak~holdersProgramme (UNEP) 254

packaging waste regulations 24 Environment Business Forum 232 Environment Business Magazine 289 En~ronmentCouncil 280 environment team 12, 208-9 Environment Transport Association 287 environmental action plans 14-15, 16 environmenta~ awareness case studies207, 212 Schools 6-7 of staff 5,257 staff training in 209- 13 see also communication environmental consultants 251, 272-3, 278 Environmental Data Services EN^^) 278, 279 environmental event 2 13-1 8 e n ~ r o n m e n t afootprint ~ 1 3 , 14, 270-1 environmental good practice guidelines

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ENTRUST 283

Environment Agency 277-8, 286 National Water Demand M a ~ a g ~ m e n t Centre 166,269-70 x

2 18-20

Environmental Health and Safety Handbook 2 79 ~nvironmental Industries Com~ission 280 environmental legislation contacts andresources 279-80 costs tobusiness 2-3 environmental reporting 253-4 grounds maintenance 127 printing 122 transport 174-5 waste 20, 25, 99, 134-5 environmental management systems 22 1 benefits 224, 226, 227 case studies 222-3,244-5 commitment 234 consultants 25 1, 278 contacts and resources 288-9 implementation 247-9 industry intiatives 23 1-2 monitoring 249-50 objectives and programme 242-3,246, 247 problems with 226-7 review 234-9 small businesses 222-3,225, 227 standards 22 1-3, 227-9 see also environmental policy; environmental reporting environmental performance business case for 2-6

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local authorities 7, 8 schools 6-7 en~ronmentalperformance indicators (EPIs) 27 1

environmental policy 14, 239 compilation 239-40 key features 240-1 model for office 24l , 242 problems with 24 1-2 reporting on 263 En~ronmentalProtection Act (1 990) Duty of Care regulations 20-2 printworks 122 environmental reporting 16, 250-1, 253, 258, 263 award schemes 255-6, 274 benchmarking 264,265, 267-8 benefits 2-6, 257-8 best practice 263 case studies260-1 , 266,269-70 contacts and resources 289-90 environmental footprint 270-1 external veri~cation272-3 government and industry initiatives 254, 256-7 government position 4 legislation 253-4 norma~ising data 2 72 promotion 2 73 reasons for non-reporting 2 75 report structure/content 259, 261-3 tracking performance 2 7 1 triple bottom line 4, 261-2 weaknesses in 264 En~ronmentalServices Association 283 Environmental Supply Chain Forum 72-S Environmental techno lo^ Best Practice Programme (ETBPP) 2 78 en~ronmentaltheme week2 12 ethical investing 3-5, 290 Ethical Investment Research Service 3 ethical junction website 286 ethical purchasing 83 European Te~ecommunicationsand Professional Electronics Industry Association (ECTEL) 66 European Union, Ecolabelling 78, 93, 1 13 eutrophication 118 Evolve Business 47-9

300

faxes 38 filing products 95 fire protection 140, 146-7 fleet cars see company cars Fleet Driver Training Association 287 flip cltiarts 39 fluorescent tubes 68 contacts andresources 282 disposal 68-9 recycling 68-9 foams ref fighting 146-7 f u ~ n i s h i n ~105 s food waste 54 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) 103, 141 LJK p or king Group 285 forestry practices 47, 103-4, 141 formaldehyde 105, X 08 fossil fuels 149-50 fountain solutions 126 Framework Directive (1975) 20 Friends of the Earth (FOE) 184, 206, 288 FTSE 350 4, 18, 255-6, 289 fuels alternative 177, 193 minimising consumption 192-5 and pollution 176-7 furniture case studies 65,106-8 contacts and resources 283,284-5 disposal 69, 108 environmental issues 102-3 manufacture 105, 108 packaging 108 re-us/recycling 65, 69, 104 supplier 106-8, 109 textiles 105 timber alternatives 104-5 ~urnitureRecycling Network 104 Future Energy 151 glass recycling 57-8 case studies40, 59 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 254 glues 105 Going for Green campaign 279, 284 good practice guidelines 2 18-20 graduate recruitment 5 grass cutting 127-8 grass mowing 127-8

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Green Business Clubs 278 Green ~ f ~ c i e 256 ~cy green stationery 285 green tariffs, energy purchasing 154-6 green transport plans (GTPs) 178, 191 case studies 181, 187-8 Greener World Ltd 281 greenhouse effect 103, 148-9 greenhouse gases global warming potentials 148 reporting emissions 262 vehicle emissions 1 76, 189-90 see also carbon dioxide Greening Government Program~e19 Greenware Environmental ~ a n a g e m e n t Systems 289 greywater recycling 169, 171 grounds maintenance environmental issues I 2 7 legislation 127 purchasin~criteria 128, 130-1 water use efficiency 169, 17 1

as refrigerants 144 homeworking 180, 186 hot water 158 household wastes 19 hydro-electric power 152

incineration 19, 28 Independent Waste Paper Processors Association 284 Industry Council for Electronic E ~ u i p ~ e n t Recycling (ICER) 99, 281 inert gases 147, 148 Information for Industry 280 information technology (IT) re-use/recycling of equipment 40, 62-4 reducing paper consumption 38, 42 supplier links 82-3 inks, for printing 123, 126 Institute of Environmenta~Management and Assessment 289 Institute of Waste Mana~ement284 insulation 158 insurance companies 5 International Chamber of Commerce UK 280, 289 International Environmenta~Survey -204-5 International Institute for Sustainable Development 280 International Panel on Climate Change 149 investment 3-5 contacts and resources 290 IS0 14001 6, 22 1-2, 227-9 case study 244-5 environmental reporting 258 software tools 289 IS0 I4024 78 IS0 14031 254 isopropyl alcohol 123 IT see information technology

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Halon Users National Consortium (HUNC) 145, 286 halons 140, 145 alternatives 140, 145-7, 148 ha~ardouswaste contacts andresources 284 disposal problems 136-7 government and industry initiatives 135-6 legislation 134-5 storage 2 I , 137 HCFCs (hydrochloro~u~rocarbons) 143 Health and Safety Display Screen Equipment Regulations ( I 992) 139 heating calcu~atingenergy use 154-7 reducing energy use 157-8, 160 heavy metals 93 in batteries 66-7 ~uorescent tubes68 Henry Doubleday Research Association 55, 131, 288

herbicides 12 7-8 Hertfordshire County Council 178 HFCs (hydro~uorocarbons)144, 147 ~ r e f i g ~ t i n147 g global warming potential 148

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labelling 78, 93 paper products X 12- 13 standards 78 stationery products 98 landfill 28, 1 12 Landfill Directive 25-6 Landfill Tax 23, 26, 31 lead 68 leasing arrangements 73 Legionnaires' disease 158

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lifecycle analysis 81, 254 lighting 162-5 fluorescent tubes 68-9, 282 mainframe computer rooms 139 Liquid Petroleum Gas Association 287 liquid petroleum gas (LPG) 177, 189 Local Agenda 21 7 local authorities 278 business environment awards 2 7 case studies8, 85-6,2 15-1 7 en~ronmentalmanagement systems 230-1, 235

environmental statement 250-1 municipal waste management 19 purchasing structures 84 sustainable development 7 Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee ( U M C ) 75,283, 289 Local Government ~ a n a g e m e nBoard t 280 London Recycling 28 1 London 2ansport 184

mainframe computer rooms 139-40 Make a Corporate Commitment (MACC) 150 ~ a n a ~and i n~~o t i v a t i Staff n ~ to Save Energy 157 marketing materials 39 materials recovery facilities (MRFs) 34 ate rials Recyclin~and boo^ 28 1 ater rials Recyclin~~ e 28 1 e ~ ~ mercury 66 metals 93, 10l methane 25, 28 mineral water 120, 122 mobile phones 66, 282 Mobius Loop 78 Montreal Protocol 140, 143, 145 National Air Quality Strategy (UK) 174 National Association of Paper Merchants 1 12, 285

National Cycle Network 182 National Cycling Strategy 182 National Household Hazardous Waste Forum 135, 284 National Recycling Forum 284, 289 National Road 2affic Forecasts (1 997) 172 National Society for CleanAir and En~ronmentalProtection 279, 288 National Waste Awareness Initiative 26-7 302

National Water Demand Management Centre 165,269-70 Nat~ral~ a p i t a l i 280 s~ Natural Gas Vehicles Association288 natural resources use 15 Network for Alternative Technologyand Technology Assessment 287 A New Dealfor ans sport: Betterfor Everyone 174-5 New Economics Foundation 280 nickel cadmium batteries 66-7, 282 nitrogen oxides 149, 176-7 noise pollution 177 Non Fossil Fuel Obligation 151 Nordic White Swan label 113 Northumberland Heath School 208 Nottingha~City Council 179-80, 184 nuclear power 150

OFFERS 104 office, environmental effects of 1 3 , 14, I5 office equipment see electrical/electronic equipment office waste see waste Office of Water Services (OFWAT) 287 oil spills 136,141,148 waste disposal 136 Oneworld 286 organic waste case study 55 composting 54-5 contacts and resources 281, 288 environmental issues 53 foods 54 problems with 57 ozone filters 138 generation by office equipment 100, 102, 137 ozone depleting substances l 17, 143-5

packaging electronic equipment 101 furniture 108 producer responsibility obligations 23-4 recycling 67-8 stationery items96 Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations (1998) 23-4

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PAI-Is (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) 177

paints 136, 140-1 paper contacts and resources 285 labelling systems 112- I 3 manufacture 109- 12 recycled 1 14, I 16 reducing usehvaste 36, 38-40, 42, 1 13 waste disposal 1 12 see also paper recycling Paper Federation of Great Britain 285 paper mill 1 13, l 15-16 paper recycling assessing feasibility 48-50 case studies 51-2 and cleaning contractors 50 collection systems 49 confidential waste 48-9 contacts and resources280-1 contamination of waste 36, 50 environmental benefits 47 materials market 35, 47-8 products from 102, 1 14, 1 16 storage of waste 51 Paperback 94-5,285 paperless office 39-40 particulates 176 peat, use in horticulture 127 pencils 95-6 pens 93, 95-6 Pensions and Investment Research Consultants (PIRC) 255-6,290 pesticides 127-8 petrol duty 175 ~inimisingconsumption 192-3 pollution from 176-7, 189-90 PFCs (per~uorocarbons)147, I48 phosphates 1 18 photocopiers dust 138 filters 138 ozone generation 100, I37 reducing paper use 38, 40, 42 toner cartridges 64-5 use of recycled paper I 14, 1 16 ventilation 138 photographic materials 45-6 plants

in office 138-9 see also grounds maintenance plasterboard 140 plastic foams 105 plastics, recycled 95 plates 120 plumbing 169 plywood 141 polyvinyl chloride 93 posters 205 Powershift Programme 177, 288 Premises and Facilities ~ a n a g e m e n287 t presentations 2 1 1 press washes 124, 126 printers contacts and resources284 reducing paper use 36-8, 40, 42 toner cartridges 47, 100, 284 using recycled paper 1 14, 1 16 printing case study 125-6 environmental issues 122-3 environ~entallypreferable options 124, 126 legislation I22 Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Wastes)Regulations ( I 997) 23-4 product design 74 public image 258 public transport 183-4, 188 for business travel 192 visitors 192 purchasing 7 l case studies79-81, 90-1 contacts and resources 284-6 contracts 92 industry initiatives 75 local authorities 84, 85-6 mini~isingbusiness risk 72-3 planning a policy 84, 86-7 principles 8 1-2 whole life costing 74 see also labelling; supplier; supply chain and indivi~ual~ r ~ d u c ~ s ~ s e ~ i c e s PVC (polyvinyl chloride) 93

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quality assurance consultants272-3 rainwater recycling 169, 17 1 303

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REBAT 67 Recycler ~ e v i 284 e~ recycling assessing feasibility 44-7 benefits 44 case studies 45, 51-2, 207 communication 47 contacts and resources 280, 283-4 containers 283 contractors 46-7 goods from 43-4,75, 284 incentives 206 launching a scheme 203, 205-6 see also d ~ e r e ~ t ~ a ~and e r iitems als recycling rate benchmark 267 calculation of 46 refrigerants 143-4 Refrigeration Users Croup (RUC) 144, 287 renewable energy 151-2, 153 resin glue 105 Retread ~anufacturersAssociation 196 retreads 195-6 road traffic accidents 177, 194 Road Vehicles (~onstruction and Use) Regulations I74 Royal omm mission on Environmental Pollution 175-6

Sainsbury’s plc 194 Save Waste and Prosper (SWAP) 135, 284 Save Wood Products 105 Save-A-Cup 60, 281 schools case studies 168, 204 ECO-Schools 208, 288 organic waste~ a n a g e m e n55 t paper recycling 17 raising environmental awareness 6-7, 20

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Scottish En~ronmentProtection Agency (SEPA) 277-8 seminars 21 1-12 Shot in the Dark 54,222-3 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) contacts andresources 289 environ~entalmanagement systems 222-3,225, 227 en~ronmentalreporting 6, 27 1 purchasing 96 304

and supply chain 6, 83 sodium lamps 68, 282 solar power 152 solvents in cleaning products 1 17 in paints 136, 140-1 printing process 122-4, 126 stationery products95-6 Special Waste Regulations (1996) I34 special wastes consignment note system 135-6 disposal problems 136-7 identifying 135 legislation 134 oils 136 storage 21, 137 staff energy use 156,157 environmental awareness 5,209-13, 257 environmental mana~ementtraining 248-9 see also communication stakeholders 4-6, 257, 273 stationery case study 94-5 contacts and resources 285 cost 98 environmental issues 93 labelling 98, l 12- 13 purchasing 85-6,94-8 quality 98 recycled 94-5,98 supplier 85-6, 97 waste minimisation 39 see also paper stationery amnesty 39 Stationery Office 280 Steel Can Recycling Information Bureau 28 1

street environment 8,27 sulphur dioxide 149 supplier assessment questionnaires 74-5,87-9, 92 contracts 92 direct computer links 82-3 stationery 85-6, 97 supply chain case studies 76-8, 129-30 environmental improvement 74-5

and small businesses 83 Supply Chain Environmental ~ a n a g e m e n t ~rogramme77 sustainabi~itymanagement systems 23 1-2 sustainable development 3-4 contacts and resources 279-80 Sustrans 182, 288 SWOT analysis 238

see also forestry triple bottom line (TBL) 4, 261-2 tropical rain forests 102-3 tyres, retreads 195-6

take-back of products 73 taps 169 Telework, Telecottage and Telecentre Association (TCA) 288 teleworki~g180, 186 Tesco 191 textiles, recycled 105 Tidy Britain Group 27, 284 timber 141 composite products 141 contacts and resources284-5 environmental issues 102-3 packaging 68 preservatives X 05 reclaimed 43-4 substitutes 104-5, 285 Tomorrow's Company 254, 256 toner 138 toner cartridges 64-5 contacts and resources 284 recycling 47 re~anufacture64-5, 100 Total Cost Approach 81 traffic congestion 175, 177-8 Transport 2000 288 transport benc~marks265, 268 case studies 181 company policy 173-4 contacts and resources 287-8 environmental issues 172, 175-8 environmenta~ reporti~g 262 government and industry initiatives 178 egisl la ti on 1 74-5 taxation 175 see also cars; c o ~ m u t i n gcompany ; cars; public tra~sport transport hierarchy 173 Travelwise 178, 288 trees in grounds 128, 130

upholstery 105 urinals 169 US Dow )ones Susta~nability Index 3-4 US Environmental Protection Agency 99

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Unwu~ted~ o ~ p u t e ~ reuse 282

A~ ~uide ~ u i to ~

~ent:

zyxwvuts zyxwvutsr zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfe zyxw zyxwvut zyxwvuts zyxwv varnishes 140 VDUS 138-9 Vehicles Certificat~onAgency 193, 288 vending cups 58-60, 281 ventilation 158 video conferencing 191 video re-use 39 VOCs (volatile organic c o ~ p o u n d s95 ) cleaning products 1 I 7 from vehicles 177 printing process 122, 123, 126

washroom cleaning products 1 17- 18 consumables 120 waste disposal costs 29-30 energy recovery 28 environmenta~issues 27-8 legal definition 20 national waste awarenessinitiative 26-7 producer respons~bi~~ty 23 storage 21, 31, 46 see dso hazardous waste; organic waste; special waste Waste Alert Clubs41-4,215-1 7 waste excha~ge42-4, 69 building refurbis~ment142 case study 43-4 Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive 25 waste ~ierarchy 26 waste management audit 28-33 case studies91 contacts and resources283-4

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contractors 21-2, 34-6, 283 documentation 22 environmental reporting 257, 263 government/industry initiatives 25-7 incineration 19 legislation 2-3, 20, 25 licensing regulations 22-3 local authorities 19 waste minimisation 17 case studies38-9, 41-2 cost savings 3 government departments 19 Green Business Clubs 278 paper 36, 38-40, 42,1 13 UK Government strategy 18-1 9 Waste ~inimisationAct (1998) 278 Wuste Strutegy2000for ~ n ~ l u nand d Wules 3, 18-19, 25-26, 53 waste stream analysis 30-2, 33 Waste Watch 75, 284 water meters 166

water puri~cationsystem 120, 122 water sprinkler systems 146 water use 165-71 b e ~ c h ~ a r268 ks case study 168 en~ronmentalreporting 262 plumbing maintenance 169 websites 285-6 weed control 127-8 whole life costing 74 Wildlife Watch 288 wind power 152 wood see timber Woodland 2 u s t 289 workshops 2 13-1 8 workstation 138-9 World Wide Fund For Nature ( ~ F206, ) 284, 289 W F 95 Plus Group 103-4, 1 13 wormeries 54-5, 57 writing instruments 93, 95-6

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306